Son of a Legend: Music of the Primes
by Queen of the Beasts
Summary: An ancient evil is threatening the galaxy, one that even the military can't handle. The Avengers, their legacy, the Autobots, and NEST must race against time to stop the coming chaos that would consume the planet. If they succeed, all will stand. But if they fail, their world will fall...and Unicron will rise.
1. Fight as One

1\. Fight as One

_Millions of years ago…_

This isn't what should be happening right now. Ultimus stood off to the side as he watched his brothers and sister bicker over what should be done with the coming evil. He wasn't exactly wise like Prima or strong like Megatronus, but he was not one to back down from a fight when one came.

Now, he had enough.

"Silence!" His voice carried out over the rest of them, forcing them to turn their gaze to him.

"We cannot just stand by while Unicron threatens this planet," Ultimus began to say. "If we do, he will destroy everything. We will all perish under his wrath."

His brethren had uneasy looks.

"I believe we can see that," Amalgamous said. "It's just that we might as well go into battle against him."

"So be it then," Ultimus said.

The other twelve Primes were shocked to hear that. Most of their optics widened as they stared at him.

"What? Go up against our creator's opposite? Have you been dropped on your processor too many times? Their rivalry is the whole reason destruction reigns in these parts!" Megatronus bellowed.

"I _know_ that, and I do not care of that. What I _do_ know is that Primus and Unicron are _not_ going to stop their fighting unless someone much wiser steps in and stops it. And that is what _I_ am going to do. Primus needs help, and I am going to provide it to him. Anyone is welcome to join me." Ultimus turned and marched off.

Ultimus frowned, not wanting to know exactly what his brethren was thinking about him. He smirked when he caught a flare of aqua to his left. Micronus was going to join the fight, he figured. It wasn't long before the others had joined them.

"I hope you know what you are doing," Vector Prime said.

Ultimus sighed. "I hope so too."

* * *

The thirteen had come to an agreement in only a matter of days. It was not the easiest strategy, but it was better than the last few that were brought up.

The thirteen figures gathered in the clearing to prepare themselves for Unicron. As twelve of them stood by, Ultimus was approaching them. All of the Primes were looking at him with a serious look.

"Are you sure of this, Ultimus?" Solus asked. "I mean, if I put my full energy into it I might be able make sure Unicron goes into hypersleep himself."

"No, Solus," Nexus answered for him. "It has already been confirmed that this may be our only plan of action."

"I am just a bit curious of your plan," Liege Maximo spoke at last. His voice was chilling, mechanical. "Are you sure this is a necessary war to confront? Should it truly be wise to go up against him? Don't get me wrong, but I don't understand Primus' intentions."

"Because, brother, this planet will have a history that will also tie in to what the galaxy will be like as time passes on," Onyx Prime spoke. "The creator _himself_ simply put that the coming species after us will leave a great effect on every planet's interaction with other species." His gaze deepened as he stared into Liege Maximo's optics. The tricky one always did shiver at Onyx's beastly appearance.

"Not now, Onyx," Alpha Trion said. "This is no time to become hostile." He turned his gaze to where one of Cybertron's moons hung in the night sky. "I am, however, quite concerned about the events displayed in your vision, Ultimus. I have hoped that whatever happens does not display harm on the galaxy itself."

"I am not deciding on your fates," Ultimus said. "I am asking for us all to stand together when Unicron descends onto ground and challenges us to meet our fate. You always do have a choice."

Liege Maximo was about to make a comment when they heard the distant sounds of thunder. They turned to the south to find clouds of wavering warriors coming their way.

"So, this is how we die," Quintus said.

Alpha Trion sighed. "I believe so."

"We will buy you time, Ultimus," Nexus said as he stepped forward.

"We are going to leave the lad alone?" Alchemist exclaimed.

"That is insanely not like you to let him go alone," Megatronus agreed.

"Nexus, let one of us go with him," Micronus agreed.

"No, Micronus," Ultimus said. "I will be fine. I may be knocked into an unconscious state, but so will he if I succeed. We must prepare." As they heard terrible shrieks rang in the southern sky, they cringed at the sound. Vector unsheathed his sword. Megatronus fired up his Requiem blaster to give it a boost. Solus' hammer was engulfed with electricity and Micronus projected a force field sphere around him. Onyx transformed into his beast form. Everyone got into defense as a new figure began to materialize.

Everyone grew tense, staring up at the titan that was taller by feet. Micronus shuddered at the dark purple optics the glowed violently as the titan peered down at them.

Unicron's optics darkened. He raised his hand up to the skies. The clouds of deadly warriors shrieked as they flew at them. "Prepare to meet your fate, Thirteen!"

The last anyone saw then were the Thirteen running into battle as they let out a war cry.

**Welcome to the sequel, everyone. Prepare to laugh, to gasp, to cry, to be angry with me. 'Cause much will go down. No eventual character death will be displayed, but…I want to get this done as soon as I can, because all ready I want to do the third installment.**


	2. Doctor's Key

2\. Doctor's Key

He awoke with a start, gasping into the darkness as he trembled. He shook his head, trying to rid the dream. He sat up, glancing around as he tried to calm himself. He vaguely recalled being at home when he was knocked out, dragged to some unknown part of the galaxy, tortured for information. He recognized he was in a prison cell, which meant he was knocked out again.

The doctor, known as Henry "Hank" Pym, leaned against the wall, tired blue eyes gazing up at the ceiling.

"I'll wager the sun on the rise," he sighed. "Must be spring by now." He ran a callous hand through his white hair and said softly, "I'll probably never know."

"Not stuck in here you won't."

Hank looked up to see a familiar man younger than him with short brown hair, a stubbed face, and intense blue eyes. But one wouldn't know if he wasn't wearing an oddly shaped gray helmet over his head. He wore a black suit with red on his chest, abdomen, legs, and shoulders.

"Scott," the man cried out in surprise.

"Ssh," Scott hissed as he pulled out a key.

"How did you get here?" Hank asked.

"I had to strike a deal with the Guardians," Scott answered as he unlocked the door.

Hank stared at him. "The Guardians? Of the Galaxy?"

"Yep," Scott answered as he carefully lifted Hank up and helped him out. "We don't have much time."

"Scott, stop," Hank said. "My back."

Scott stopped.

"They whipped it so many times that I can't feel it," Hank explained.

"Well, good thing I've brought backup," Scott gloated. "Groot!"

"What?"

Footsteps echoed out in the hallway and, to the doctor's shock, a humanoid tree appeared with dark, beady eyes peaking at them in curiosity.

"T-that's a tree," the doctor managed to say as Scott dragged him towards Groot.

"Yep," Scott said.

"And…it can walk," Hank added.

"You haven't seen _everything_ yet," Scott mentioned.

* * *

Two Chitauri guards stood at the entrance to the room. Both of them were grabbed and sabotaged. When the perpetrators were taken care of, a masked figure poked his head inside. He stepped inside to let his other two companions in.

"I don't believe it," the woman whispered in disbelief. "We're in the weaponry room." Glaring at their leader she said, "You were suppose to lead us out farther, not further in."

"Gamora, relax," he said. "Once we find the man, I'll have Rocky start the ship and we can run like hell before they can even find us."

"Found him," the muscular and shirtless one announced, pointing behind him. He turned around to find Scott with Groot and Hank being supported by both of them.

"Nice work, Drax," he mumbled.

Meanwhile, a Chitauri guard found the cell empty and went to warn the others. In another part of the compound, they tried to get out of there through the tunnels.

"Are you mad?" Hank had asked. "They'll find us down here!"

The leader, Peter Quill, sighed and said, "Listen, I'm not gonna lie to you. Half of us didn't even want to make a deal with your friend."

Hank stared at him in disbelief.

"But I promise you that they won't," Quill assured. "You just have to trust us."

Hank looked at Scott.

"We have to," was all Scott said.

A low sound echoed up from above. Quill nearly dropped the light in his hand.

"They've sounded the alarm," Gamora breathed. "We have to keep moving."

Up above the surface, a Chitauri alpha swore he heard something underneath them. He crouched down to the ground and placed his head against it. He looked up and out into the distance. Realizing what was going on, he turned to the first drone.

"After them! Slay them all if you have to!"

Near the sanctuary, in a blue and orange space craft, a raccoon named Rocky was toying around with a device in one of the seats when they piled in. "Well, that was quick," he commented.

"Rocky, just shut up for now," Quill said.

"We're leaving in here?" Hank asked, puzzled. "How will something like this carry seven passengers this heavy?"

"Don't insult his ship," Scott warned him. "I learned that the hard way."

Something exploded outside and they nearly toppled over another. Quill looked out and saw a horde of Chitauri not far out.

"Now those are some big guns," he said.

"Rocky!" Gamora shouted.

"Hold on!"

Another shot nearly cracked a window from the outside.

"Whoa," Scott said.

A yellow beam shot past them and out the door and hit one of the drones before the door closed. Hank looked up to find a woman in a suit of black and yellow. He recognized it as the Wasp suit and glared at Scott for an explanation.

"Uh, I don't think you want to know that either," Scott said.

"Fire on my command," one of them shouted.

"I am Groot," Groot said.

"Not helping!" Rocky snapped.

"Three, two..." The alpha never the chance to finish as the ship started, frying at least a few of them. It slowly hovered over the ground and rose up before it took off, leaving behind some confused Chitauri in the wake.

* * *

Scott had briefly filled him in on how Hope told him about the kidnapping, how they learned of the Guardians and got a hold of them, how they _forced_ them to tag them along, how they even managed to track down his whereabouts. To say the least, he didn't know how to make of the wounds on his back.

"Hold still," Gamora told Hank. "This may hurt."

"Ouch!" Hank exclaimed as something hot and wet dripped onto his back.

"Sorry, that was wax," Drax said.

"Why did they take you?" Quill asked.

"They were after something, something I hid from those like them a long time ago," Hank explained. "A key."

Gamora frowned. "What kind of key?"

"I don't know for sure," Hank answered. "They really wanted it. They even mentioned something of the Chaos Bringer."

The whole ship grew silent.

"You serious?" Rocky demanded.

"What is the Chaos Bringer?" Scott asked.

Someone was about to answer, but a device began to beep.

"You have a call," Hope said, reaching out to turn it on. The gang protested, reaching out to stop her, but she swiped on the surface and revealed a face of an angry blue man.

"Quill?"

Quill sighed and turned around as the Guardians said at once, "Hi, Yondu."

"I'm here on Planet X," Yondu said. "Ain't no doctor, ain't no key. And then I thought to myself 'Gee, there's only one other person that would know about this.' _You guys!_"

"Well, we were in the neighborhood at the moment," Peter filled in. "So we figured, 'What the heck?'"

"We do not do that to each other," Yondu scolded.

"We also don't let our own thugs send us pictures being flipped by the bird," Rocky shot back.

In the background, you could hear a couple of Yondu's goons snickering.

"Listen," Quill said, "I hate to say this, but you know what they say." Then he added cheerfully, "'Haters gonna hate!' So bye-bye." He hung up on Yondu and sighed in relief. "That took care of that."

And somehow the screen managed to pop back up.

"When I picked you up from Terra…"

"Damn," Quill cursed to himself.

"My boys wanted to eat you," Yondu continued. "They never tasted Terran flesh before. But I stopped 'em. You're alive because of me!"

Quill mouthed the last part.

"Will you stop it!" Gamora snapped.

"Yeah, it's been twenty some years for crying out loud," Quill said. "I can't believe you're still throwing that in my face and_—_"

The screen shut off, interrupting the call.

"I don't know about you guys," Scott stated before holding up a cord, "but I tend to pull the plug." He handed it to Drax and walked away.

"Genius," was all Drax said.

Back at Planet X, Yondu was furious. "Put a bounty on them! Forty K." Then he grabbed one of his goons and added, "But I want them back alive."

"Yeah, Cap," the goon said.

One of the others was exasperated. "Alive?"

"That's what I said," Yondu confirmed.

"I'd told you when that kid was picked up, we should have delivered him like we was hired to do!" the goon ranted. "He was cargo! And you've always gone soft on him."

"_You're_ the one I'm being soft on!" Yondu shouted. "Now, don't you worry about Mr. Quill. 'Cause once we catch that ship of his, I'll kill him myself like I should've done. What we need to worry about is who else out there is after that Terran doctor."

* * *

"The doctor escaped their custody!" the leader echoed the subordinate's report. "How did they let this happen?"

"I-I don't know sir," the trooper managed to say. "H-he just somehow just managed to escape their grasp." He covered his head, fearing for the coming blow.

"You!" the leader shouted at a soldier, much to the subordinate's relief. "Shut down dark-matter drive, reverse course at light speed, and get us back!"

"Yes sir," the soldier replied, running to the terminal in the command center.

"Sir, what about the people that took him?" the subordinate asked. "Surely, there could be a clue on who did."

The commander stopped. "The Guardians," he growled. "They must have known about it from someone." Turning to the subordinate, he barked, "Track down their ship, on the double. Get my disciples on the link. We have a hunt on our hands."

**Well, you guys got to vote, and some of you voted for the Guardians and for Ant-Man to be in here. Expect revenge and a surprise in the next chapter.**


	3. Warriors of Youth

**I will, once again, give Asher Tye credit for the idea presented in this chapter. It wasn't exactly meant to be, but I think I can work it out here. Plus, it would be fun to show you guys what I have in store for you all.**

3\. Warriors of Youth

Ever since Jack was a boy, he had always been fascinated with stories that involved magic and science, warfare and aliens. One of his favorites was the story of Captain America, who had been part an experiment to make super soldiers. Afterwards, he had crashed into the ice. There wasn't a trace of his body. It was ironic, yet good that they did, because Captain America was his father.

Jack had grown briefly to be 'the boy.' The one no one talked to, the one the jocks picked on, the one who ate by himself, the one nobody remembered. Until he met a new race of sapient beings and got tangled in a whole new world. Now he had grown up to be the boy some people never forgot; a handsome boy with black hair and blue eyes.

And right now, he wished he was dead.

"Slag, slag, slag, slag, slag! Run, run, run, run, _run_!" His friend, Adam Wilson, ran through the trees and into the brush.

Jack peeked past his post. "Here he comes, get ready."

Raf picked up the end of the rope. "Ready whenever you are."

"Now!" Both of the boys pulled as a behemoth tried to run past them. It tripped and fell onto the ground. Both boys took cover into the bushes, covering themselves before the stranger could recover.

In another part, Sierra stood over the forest, one foot resting on the stones and peering down. Her eyes darted from one part to another. She noticed someone running fast in the forest, forcing her to shake her head. "I warned them not to do this, but did they listen? No, they thought they could take 'em out." She winced as she heard cackling. "Well, maybe _some_ of them can."

Adam flew up to her level. "They knocked him out good."

"And Vince?"

"Um, that part is a little—"

"_Adam, start flying for your life!"_

Adam cringed at the sudden shouting over the intercom. "Gotta go, see you." Then he took off.

"Good golly." Sierra pressed the button on her earpiece. "Vince, what are you doing?"

"_Uh, a little help?"_

"Fly past me and I'll see what I can do."

"_Are you crazy? I'll be cornered off—"_

"Do it, ya big wuss!"

Vince groaned. _"I'll be where you're at in T-minus two minutes."_

"Dutifully noted." She cut him off and notched an arrow. "I've got you covered."

Jack separated from Raf and crept through the forest. His shield brushed lightly against the fern leaves as he wove through the woodland. It was quiet, what with the lack of animals and birds. His heart raced in his chest, pounding hard against his lungs. He took cautious steps and swiveled his head around every now and then.

"Jack, behind you!" he heard Adam shout.

Jack barely reacted as his feet were swept from underneath him and he fell hard on his back. He groaned, trying to get up, but finding a foot pinning him down. He looked up to find his attacker.

"What?" Clint asked. "You didn't see that coming?"

Up above, observing them from behind the monitors and a window, a few figures watched the training down below.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," Steve spoke.

"Hey, Tony promised that none of the kids would get critically hurt as long as this stimulation doesn't glitch or they all do something stupid," Rhodey assured.

"I was more referring to letting them take on the Hulk," Steve said.

"I heard your boy fought against a Decepticon with him," Natasha stated.

Steve glared at her. "What?"

Natasha nodded. "Apparently Banner was at the old missile silo when the punk got out of his prison and nearly trashed the place."

"It was huge," Rhodey described.

"That was foolish," Steve whispered.

"Oh yeah, it was," Rhodey agreed.

"Not as foolish as running away and bringing friends back with them," Natasha said.

Back in the forest, Miko crawled on the tree branch to get a better view of the situation. She grinned. Watching Jack try to take on Hawkeye was one of the best things she could ever watch. Right next to watching the boys trip Hulk to get away. It was a miracle that they did.

She heard a cracking sound, followed by a snap. Miko screamed as she found herself dropping and striking the ground hard. She groaned and got up. She watched someone come out of the brush.

"Hello?"

When the person turned around, she wished she kept her mouth shut. The Hulk had turned around to find her there. The girl quickly scrambled up to her feet, both set apart. "Uh, hey there."

The Hulk let out a roar. Miko flinched. She slowly raised a hand to assure him that she was not going to attack. The girl was glad that Natasha had taught her to do that.

The Hulk grunted, inching forward in a jerkish movement. Miko remained calm, but her heart was pumping past the normal beat. She moved her hand so the palm was up. She never realized how enormous his was until it was placed on top of hers. Miko swept her other hand carefully so she would place it on top of the palm. She ignored the fact that the giant was staring at her before he retreated. Miko looked up, watching as the Hulk slowly returned to being Doctor Bruce Banner once more. The girl sat back, sad that this had to happen to him. It was time for her to go wrap this up.

* * *

"Can I _not_ do that again?" Raf asked weakly.

Vince had an ice pack over his eye as he grumbled, "I should've picked the Autobots."

"I'm pretty sure they would've been worse than what we had," Sierra pointed out.

Chloe laughed. "Oh, they would've been alright. Those guys are monsters!"

"Aye," Briana agreed. "The Autobots would truly have left us bruised."

Adam came stumbling into the kitchen. Jack had to help guide him in.

"What's the matter with you?" Miko asked.

"Let's just say Tony and I hit heads…literally," Adam said, lowering himself in a chair.

"I told you not to engage with him," Vince chided.

"I _wasn't_ engaged to him," Adam retorted.

"Yeah, Vince," Miko snorted. "In order for him to be engaged, they both have to be single."

"That's not what he meant," Jack said.

"Methinks that I should've stayed in London," Briana spoke.

"How did you even get all the way here?" Raf asked.

"I can fly, remember?"

Jack looked at his watch. "Oops. Gotta go."

"Hey, where are you going?" Miko piped.

"It's Thursday, remember?" Jack reminded.

"Oh, visiting mom night," Miko mumbled to herself. "Say hi to her for me," she told Jack.

"Lucky," Adam snarled under his breath as Jack left.

"You could've gone with him to go see your mom," Vince told him. "But no, you had to go finish some stupid study with those nerds at school."

"Yeah, math is never really my friend," Adam admitted.

* * *

Those memories of the past hurt her.

June held up the outfit she once wore so many years ago before she met Steve. Even when they were together, she wore this to save lives and to help make the world a better place. If there was one thing she didn't want her son to _know_ was that he was a child of _two_ Avengers. Especially one that retired from the team.

So far, she was glad Steve or the others didn't tell him.

"Mom, I'm home."

June's shoulders jerked at his sudden voice. She quickly stuffed the suit into her purse and closed it. "Jack?"

"Who else were you expecting, the Invisible Woman?" Jack joked as he entered her room.

June turned around. She was not happy when she found the boy leaning against the wall with his jacket off.

"Jack, for crying out loud, that's the fifth time I find you coming here with all those scratch marks," June scolded. "What's it this time?" She was never one to worry about her son, but that was starting to happen when he came home with bruises and scratch marks. Once, he came home with a first degree burn. It had to be treated immediately.

Jack looked down at his arms. "Um, I was…Let's just say that people are aggressive in Central Park." Jack felt bad lying to her, but if she found out what he did in his spare time at the tower, she would throw a major fit.

June looked at him worriedly. "Tell me the rumors aren't true, Jack." she asked, her tone switching from anger to concern. "Tell me you're not racing that motorcycle."

"No, no wait, what, where did you hear that?" he asked.

"Small town, people talk" she explained sternly. "I work in an emergency room Jack. I've seen what can happen. So please, tell me you haven't fallen in with a bad crowd."

"What? No, my friends are the good crowd, _seriously_ good," he protested.

_Unless you count Miko,_ his mind added.

"Really. I'm not racing. And before you say anything, I am not part of a gang, cult or any type of bad grouping."

June was a bit surprised hearing that.

"I'm just tired of it all. For these — these things no one tells me about! More secrets, more excuses! I even wonder if there's even a point to it all!" he finally roared, hitting the wall. And it was only then that he realized what was happening. He looked to his right, to find small cracks in the wall. He pulled it away, cradling his hand. "Mom, I'm scared sometimes..."

"No, Jack. I'm sorry," she apologized. "You're right. Lately you've been hidden in the dark. I'll try and make it up to you. I promise."

Jack glanced up at her.

"Still I agreed for you to have that bike because you promised to be responsible." She suddenly turned stern, once more. "But maybe you need a gentle reminder. I'll have your father see how you do without it for two weeks."

Jack's eyes widened in shock. "Say what?! But that's—"

"Wanna make it three months?" she asked, showing she would not go for a compromise. It effectively got Jack to be quiet. "Go wash up now. I love you."

* * *

Jack sighed frustrated by how dull his life had become in the past two days as he concentrated on his homework. Being banned from Arcee had pretty much destroyed his social life. He still hung out with some of his old friends at school of course, but every time he watched them leave with their vehicles reminded him of what he was missing. His bike was not a great conversationalist.

Jack was ready to give up when his phone rang. He looked at the caller ID and saw that it was his father. "Hey dad," he sighed.

"Your mother's giving you a hard time?" Steve asked.

"Well, she grounded me from Arcee," he said.

"Yeah, she told me the story," Steve said.

"Um, does my mom know anything about the Autobots?" Jack nearly slapped himself for asking that question.

"Well, I hope your mom's not making you anything," Steve said. "You're suppose to be back here within an hour."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know. I've got to go. I'll see you in a bit." He hung up and immediately went to check on Arcee. To his disbelief, she wasn't there. He quickly dialed her number.

"Come on pick up, pick up," he pleaded.

"Yes Jack?" Arcee sighed over the line.

"Arcee!" he cried, relieved. "Where are you?"

"Can't answer," she replied. "Can we talk about this later?"

"No!" he yelled. "Mom's on her way home. If you don't race back here right now, I will be grounded until I graduate from high school, and mom will make me sell you for parts."

Jack heard blaster fire, before he got a reply. "Bee, can you and Buster handle it?" Jack heard several beeps and whirrs, and the line went dead.

"Hello?" he asked "Arcee? Aw scrap!"

"JACK!"

He jumped at her sudden voice. Carefully, he stumbled back to the garage door, only to see his mom storm into the house, still dressed in her nurse attire. Steve Rogers or not, she scared him.

The look on her face was one of pure rage and disappointment, then one of shock. "What...How did...I mean..._Where_ is the motorcycle?" she demanded, hands on her hips.

"Ugh…" Jack started, when he saw the familiar green glow of the groundbridge opening behind her "What do you mean? She's right where I left her," he said as he pointed right behind her.

June turned around, and to her shock, the bike was there, parked and everything.

"Jack, what is going on here?" June inquired.

Jack let out a sigh. "Okay Mom, do you really want to know?" he asked. He saw Arcee twitch in the background, warning him not to. His mom gave him an expectant look.

"Fasten your seatbelt," he muttered, walking up to the bike. "My motorcycle is a sentient robotic organism from a distant planet part of a team stationed here, on Earth fighting a secret war. And, I spend most of my time after school hanging with her crew. An-and the coolest thing _this_isn't her actual form! She's actually a giant robot that can transform into a vehicle!"

"Jack," June said.

"It's okay, Arcee," Jack said. "Show yourself."

Arcee remained motionless.

"She-she's shy," Jack stuttered, his face turning slightly red. "A-Arcee, really, no more lies, no more hiding."

June just looked at her son sadly.

"Come on, rollout already," he growled, very lightly kicking her tire. Still nothing.

"So, um…the crowd you've been hanging out with…is a science fiction club?" June asked.

Jack looked at the floor, resisting the urge to leave Arcee with a few new battle scars.

June walked up and put a hand on his shoulder. "Look Jack, I know things have been tough for you. I know that the pressure of things to come has put a lot on you, and your changes. Can't have made it easy. But you don't need to make up stories like this."

Jack just looked away. He looked down at his phone. "It's almost time for me to go."

June sighed looking at her watch. "I have to get back to work anyway; we'll continue this discussion later. I'll see you some other time" She got back into her car to drive off. Once she was gone he called for a bridge and they went through it.

"So, how did it go?" Adam asked as they returned.

"Thanks for the support," Jack grumbled.

"You know the—" Arcee started.

"I know," he growled. "Rules! I'll see you tomorrow." He never gave Adam the details as he stormed down to his room.

* * *

June walked through the now empty parking lot, thoughts on the conversation with her son from earlier that day. "Maybe I'm being too hard on Jack," she said to herself, "but he lied, and the only way he's gonna learn is if I stick to my guns." She sighed and looked up at the stars. "Oh, Steve? What would you do?"

She cradled her purse. She gulped and reached into it. She stopped herself in time. "Easy there now. Easy girl. You're just overreacting. Stark did say you were always twitchy then."

A solid black van suddenly pulled up beside her, door opening to reveal a man with a gun pointed at her.

"Telegram!" he shouted, and shocked the nurse, knocking her unconscious.

He pulled her into the van and restrained her, climbing back into the front seat. His partner gave him a weird look "What?"

"Really, that's the best you could come up with?" his partner asked.

"Know what, screw you, I didn't hear you come up with anything better!" he retorted. The rest of the drive was spent with the two bickering over one liners.

* * *

Jack paced around in his room. He had told her the straight truth and she didn't believe him. Now that he thought about it, why she didn't believe him didn't make sense. After all, his dad was sleeping in ice for nearly seventy years for Pete sakes! What was so hard in believing his motorcycle could turn into a giant robot?

Jack jolted from his daydreaming when his cell vibrated on the dresser. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID. Curious, he answerd it. "Um, hey Fowler, what's up?"

"_Jack, your mother's gone missing."_

Jack almost dropped his phone. Jack almost dropped his phone. Mother gone missing? How could she have been reported missing? Unless…No, he would consider that last. He couldn't help but stare out into space. Lucky for him, it was only the weekend, so it would give him a good reason to go find her.

"_By the way, the interview with Kat Ferrell — what's up with the costumes?"_

"Where is she?" Jack growled.

"What?"

"Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Um, a few specific locations, why?"

"I'm going to go look for her."

"Absolutely not!" Fowler shouted. "Getting you caught in Autobot hold is one thing, but to let you kids get risked into a fight is another."

"I'll take that chance," Jack snarled.

"Jack, I'm forbidding you to—" Jack cut him off.

* * *

No one could hardly believe the news when Jack told Raf to tell Raf told them of June's disappearance. It had shocked them. It just simply didn't make sense. Where could she have gone off to?

There was no call for ransom. There was no trace of the _Nemesis_. Nobody dared to suggest her fate, and as suggestions weighed heavy on their minds, no one dared guess what might have happened to her.

Miko spoke after what felt like nearly an hour. "I don't understand this. That dinky little town isn't a place where people just randomly disappear." The girl sighed, settling back into the couch. "Something must have happened to her."

"June is a fighter, so I don't see who could have gotten away with her," Raf pointed out. "If she screamed, someone would have heard her. Whoever kidnapped her must've been so skilled that nobody would ever noticed."

Sierra sighed. She ran her fingers through her hair and fluttered her eyelids, snapping back upward when she heard saw Jack storm in with Briana in tow, both in costume.

"Jack—"

"We're going," Jack snarled.

"Going? To where?" Chloe asked.

"My home," Jack answered gruffly. "Get your costumes on. We've got some investigation to do."

* * *

The groundbridge opened up and eight kids managed to step through. No sign of June's car.

"Hey, Jack," Briana said picking up a manila envelope from the work shelf. "There's a package for you."

Jack took the package and turned it over. A small device he recognized as a communicator spilled out.

"What is that?" Adam asked.

It suddenly turned on with a beep. _"Hello Jack,"_ a deep voice greeted. It sounded very familiar to one of the teens.

"Silas," Miko growled.

"You know this guy?" Jack stammered.

"Oh, my god," Adam panicked. "They know where you live!"

_"We know things about your family that even you don't know,"_ Silas said, his voice mocking. _"For example; do you know where your mother is?"_

Jack felt the coldness in his veins replaced by the heat of fury.

"What did you do?" Jack demanded.

_"Understand, child,"_ Silas said, _"we have no intention of hurting her. In fact, we'd like to reunite the two of you as soon as possible."_

"Uh-huh, what's the catch?" Jack asked, wanting to get this scrap over with.

There was a tsking noise over the comm. _"I just need you and your fellow friends to follow the coordinates programmed into this communicator, they'll lead you to the temporary facility I've set up,"_ Silas said. _"However, I didn't really expect them to be there."_

"Jack wagon!" Adam spat.

_"Any break in communication or attempt to contact the other Autobots and Miss Darby…well, I wouldn't want you to feel responsible for the outcome,"_ Silas finished. The communicator shut off.

Jack stared at the device in anger, throwing it down and crushing it.

"Jack, we might need that," Sierra berated.

"I managed to track down where they're at," Chloe spoke. "They're in an old abandoned plantation five miles out of town."

Jack's eyes narrowed. "All right. Let's do this."

* * *

Miko let out a battle cry as she charged in, forcing some of the MECH agents to stand in confusion.

"Miko!" Jack called out. He growled and clutched his head. "Okay, let's get on with it."

"Copy that," Vince said coolly as he flew into the battle.

"Vince, where are you going?" Jack shouted.

"Jack, let's just go," Sierra said, notching an arrow.

Jack groaned and charged forward.

"Up here!" Chloe shouted. Some of the guards looked up, only to scatter as fire came raining down.

"Have at thee, mortals," Briana boasted, "for you will face the might of Thor's daughter." She twirled her sword and pointed it at sky before aiming it at them. Lightning bolts shot out and hit the nearest tank.

"Um, are you sure that was a good idea?" Raf asked.

Briana just grinned. "Come on, Raf. Get into the fun."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Raf gulped.

Briana let out a harsh sigh and rolled her eyes.

"Briana, look out!" Sierra shouted from the right. Both teens turned and found a man pointing his gun at them. Briana ran, but Raf just stood there, frozen up.

"Raf!" Miko screamed.

Jack turned around just as Adam tackled the man. But the shot went off and Raf went flying. Briana stood there with her mouth incredibly wide open. Her eyes suddenly grew dark and she slowly turned to the attacker. The way she did it made her look scary.

"Somebody stop her!" Vince shouted as he tried to hold off a sentry drone.

Jack looked around and growled angrily. He grabbed Sierra and hid her behind a wall. "Wait here," he told her as he dashed off to get Raf. He grabbed the preteen and a passing Miko as he dragged them to their hideout.

"Hey, let me go!" Miko shouted.

"This isn't working out right!" Jack snapped. "Adam, get Briana!"

"Fall back!" Adam shouted.

"What?" Briana yelled.

"Now!"

Briana and Chloe didn't think twice as they ran with him. Vince didn't want to leave, but seeing Jack's angry look forced him to retreat with them. Jack immediately lead them deeper into the compound, forcing them to take cover.

"This is a nightmare," Adam panted from their hiding spot.

Jack glared at them. "Why didn't you guys stick to the plan?"

"Um..." Miko tried to think of an excuse, but ended up cowering in Jack's presence instead.

"I don't want an excuse," Jack snapped. "That was a bunch of sloppy work out there, and we could have been almost killed."

"You weren't taught much, eh?" Vince teased.

"Look," Jack pointed a finger at Vince, "when I was young, I was taught to look out for people and to guard them close enough so I can protect them. She _never_ taught me what to do when we got attacked like that."

Raf poked his head around. "Um, guys? They're regrouping."

Jack sighed, tugging at his hair. "Listen, we'll be toast if we lose this fight. We need to work together and go according to plan so we can get this right." He glared at Miko. "Am I clear?"

Miko grumbled, folding up her arms.

"Good. Now, let's get back out there."

"I think we should check out and see what it is we're truly dealing with," Chloe suggested.

Adam looked at Jack. He nodded and the boy took off into the air. He had disappeared for a while before they heard a scream. Adam had come back scrambling and dove behind Vince.

"Really, man?" Vince snorted. "You make Raf look like the brave one here."

Jack glared at him before looking to Adam. "Well?"

"The entire premise is heavily guarded," Adam reported, standing up straight. "We're not going to be able to make it in and out unless we put up a fight. Plus, looks like they're shipping some precious cargo into one of the main facilities."

Jack nodded. "Anything else?"

"Some of the guards have bands on their wrists that lets them get in and out of the buildings," Adam added. "We're going to need one in order for us to get in."

"Anyone else finding it disturbing to see that we're doing a job meant for grown ups?" Raf asked.

Jack glared at the campsite, eyes narrowed. "All right. Let's do this."

* * *

Jack slowed in front of the main building. A tiny dot of ruby light appeared on his gilet. Then another, and another…

"Snap, they got snipers," Jack growled over the comm. link.

_"So what's the plan?"_ Adam asked, voice low.

_"The usual,"_ Sierra growled.

_"I hate that plan,"_ Raf whined.

Jack revved up the engine to the motorcycle and sped up, passing through the ranks of MECH soldiers. He activated his shield and held it up, the bullets missing him by mere centimeters. He could _feel _the air from the near misses!

Jack came screeching into the warehouse, practically jumping off of the bike. "Mom?" he called. "Mom!"

"Looking for June?" a dark, sadistic female voice asked. "She's hanging around here _somewhere_."

The team whirled around to see Airachnid attached to the ceiling grinning at him sadistically.

"Airachnid? What are _you_ doing here?" Jack snarled at the femme. Their last encounter had terrified him, if it weren't for Adam's crazy canoe idea. But right now, nothing but rage and fury filled him.

About a dozen or so MECH soldiers rushed into the warehouse, standing by him unafraid. They pointed their rifles at him, and he was powerless to do anything, as long as they had his mother.

Jack looked at a large grizzled man with scars running across his face. "You got some nerve, you know that," he snarled, glaring at Silas with narrowed eyes.

"A few human lives are a small price to pay for a miracle of science like yourself," Silas said coolly. "Besides, some people should just know where their place is in this world…and not to get themselves caught up in another affair from past encounters."

"Do I know you?" Jack asked.

__"Your ships black box sustained serious damage in the explosion," Silas explained. "But our software was able to reconstruct a few frames from the security frames."__

__The footage stopped and zoomed in on two teenage boys.__

__"That's him," Airachnid pointed out. "That's my Jack." She looked down at Silas and saw that his eyes were preposterously wide. He seemed to approach the screen, reaching his hand to the image. His mind went back by decades. Could it be?__

__"Identify!" he roared, pointing at Jack. Immediately the other man typed the command on the keyboard.__

__"Identification. Name: Jackson William Darby. Age: 16. Location: Jasper, Nevada."__

__"Confirm his parentage," Silas ordered with an unusual tone, confusing Airachnid.__

__"Negative. There's nothing on his mother or father."__

__Silas pursed his lips to the side. ___He knew only one man who looked almost exactly like that._

_"Rogers. You sly little…" he cursed. He turned to the man on his right. "Jackson must be found at once!"_

"In time, my boy," Silas grinned. "Only in time you will."

Jack growled. He did not like to play mind games, and he was in no mood for one right now.

"I'm still learning about humankind," Airachnid interrupted, stalking forwards. "But one thing is clear to me, you people care deeply about family. Therefore, the sweetest revenge I could possibly devise is to make you watch as I take your family apart."

"If you hurt my mother…" Jack threatened.

"You remember how much I enjoy sport, don't you, Jack?" Airachnid asked. "So I'll give you the opportunity to save your mother. I've stashed her close by…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Jack interrupted. "What's the catch here?"

He heard a faint beeping and turned to a clock, ticking the seconds away.

"If you can rescue her before the stroke of twelve," Airachnid purred, "I will let all of you go, unharmed. Deal?"

Jack was about to ask about the consequences if he didn't when it hit him. He walked up to Silas, and pounded his fists on the grown man's chest.

"Please," Jack begged. "Don't let her do this! You can let us go, we won't tell anyone!"

"Enough," Silas growled, shoving Jack back.

"Yes, Jack," Airachnid jeered. "Man up already."

"Shut up, Meg!" Jack spat.

Airachnid was ready to kill him, but she nodded at the clock. "Until then…"

Jack stood, and He ran out of the building as fast as he could. He stopped halfway, turned, and nodded before he continued on with Adam and Sierra coming out of the shadows with him.

"I feel like this is a bad idea," Raf gulped.

"Don't be a sissy," Vince growled. "You guys get the fun job." He disappeared deeper into the dark with Briana and Chloe. Raf and Miko ran out into the open area, careful of who would come out and attack them.

"What are the chances of Airachnid coming after Jack and not us?" Raf whispered.

"Beats me," Miko said. "But I would _love_ to beat her up."

"I think you should be careful with what you wish for," Raf said.

Miko snorted. "Give me a break, Raf. I'm the stealthiest one here."

Raf raised a brow.

"What? Aren't I?"

"Someday, Miko, there will be someone who would be faster than you and outsmart you," Raf pointed out.

"Been there, done that," Miko sang, rolling her eyes.

"I'm serious."

"What? It's not like as if..." She paused, trying to think of a good comeback. "Is it really that wrong for me to be so pumped up for something as exciting as this?"

Raf was ready to retort when something stopped behind them. They looked up to find a giant figure glaring at them with sickening glee.

"Well, well," it sneered. "Looks like my Jack brought the entire team. How intriguing."

"Y-you must be Airachnid," Raf managed to say.

"Good eye, Sherlock," Miko spat with sarcasm in her voice.

"A girl with fire," Airachnid mused. "I like it. It makes this _fun_."

"You ready?" Raf whispered to Miko.

"Oh, yeah," Miko said with a grin. She brought out her claws and crooked a hand forward.

Airachnid was confused, until Miko shot forward and swiped at her. Raf crawled up the wall, watching as Arachnid recovered.

"W-who do you think y-you are?" Raf stammered. "Threatening Jack and his family l-like that?"

"Now's not the time," Miko snarled as she landed.

Airachnid elbowed the building Raf was on and he started to fall. Miko ran, jump, and caught him in time before Airachnid's webbing could hit them and landed not far from her.

"I hate her already!" Miko huffed as they hid behind a structure.

"Just get her," Raf scolded.

Miko looked up and found the controls near a machine. She pointed up at it. Raf nodded. Miko charged out and Raf ran for the controls.

Airachnid began shooting at Miko, but she easily dodged every blow that was delivered. One of the shots nicked the structure Raf was climbing on, but he managed to retain his grip and continued to climb. He scurried to the controls and looked them over, adjusting his mask a little before pressing some buttons, causing a machine to activate. Miko had started to climb up a structure, forcing Airachnid to go after her. The Halfling leaped into the air, did a flip, and cut a rope that held a bar. It smacked into Airachnid and she fell into a container. Miko turned and gave Raf a thumbs up. Raf turned and pulled a lever. Using her strength Miko pushed the pipe until it was over their enemy. Cement poured over the Decepticon rogue and splattered all over her. Miko had to hold her laugh in as Airachnid spat and thrashed until the substance hardened.

"Ding dong! The Con is dead! Which old Con? This one in cement!" Miko sang out, almost laughing.

"We can do this later," Raf shouted from above.

The cement wasn't strong enough, however. Airachnid broke out of there with ease and spat webbing at Miko. The girl screamed as she fell to the ground.

"Miko!" Raf shouted.

"Raf, stay!" Miko hollered back. She could not help but watch the rogue stalk towards her.

"Miko!"

A blur shot out of the shadows and into the battlefield. The person was panting, almost slipped, and managed to get to Miko. He picked her up and carried her out of there before Airachnid could finish her off. She pulled her extra leg up in confusion.

"What?"

An agonizing sonic sound forced Airachnid to cover her. Raf had activated his sub-sonic resonator in his helmet to back her off. He didn't know how much longer it would take, but he pulled out a small black disc with a red light in center. He threw it and watched it collide with a building, detonating it. Raf shut off his sub-sonic resonator before taking off, yelling and screaming and hoping he did not get crushed by the falling debris.

Airachnid was about to go after him when the building over her began to fall. Before she could move, she was hit by an unknown forced and she fell to the ground. The debris and chunks of cement came crashing down on her, burying her. She couldn't move.

Raf stared at the pile warily. He began to back away before he heard footsteps. He looked up to find a young man walking up to him, Miko in his arms. Raf stared. He never met any man with fair white hair or extremely blue eyes before.

"Um, bet you didn't see that coming," Raf joked with a chuckle. It didn't work.

Miko's eyes blinked open. Raf ran up and helped the boy rip the webbing off of her. Miko sat up, clutching her head.

"Ow, what happened?"

"Um, he came from out of nowhere and saved you," Raf explained. "Then I got to bury Airachnid. It was awesome."

"Yeah, cool job," Miko groaned. "Yep, thanks Pietro." Her eyes shot wide open and she looked up at the boy. "Pietro! Pietro!" She was on her feet and her arms were wrapped around his neck. He stumbled back at the sudden movement.

"Ow, Miko," he groaned. "I was just shot last week."

Miko had her face buried in his shoulder, sobbing. "W-where were y-you?" she bawled. "I wa-was scared that y-you had died and-and I th-thought I was n-never gonna s-see you ag-again!"

"Um, Miko?" Raf spoke.

Pietro gently wrapped his arms around her, calming her down with small words and a soft, quiet voice. Miko cried until the tears ran dry. She pulled back, wiping her eyes. "W-what happened to you guys?"

"I could ask you the same question," Pietro said, eyes narrowed.

"Hey, guys?" Raf reminded them. "We've got bigger issues." He nodded to the pile. "She's gone."

* * *

Meanwhile, the first trio came out to the center, just in time to see guns being pointed at them.

"Uh-oh," Briana gulped.

"Well, this is new," Chloe commented.

The oldest of the bunch had to shield Briana as a hail of gunshots went off and peppered his armor. "What in the name of Odin's beard?" Briana shrieked.

"Guys' trying to kill us, remember?" Vince snarled.

"Do something," Chloe spat. "Your tech's more advanced than theirs."

It seemed to click for Vince as realization dawned on him. "Oh, right." He aimed the pulsor in his left hand and shot out an energy beam at them. They scattered and Vince charged in, destroying as much of the weapons as he could.

"Bon voyage, freaks!" he shouted.

Chloe jumped up into the air. Her brass claws on her gauntlets gleamed as she swoop down and raked them across the masks. The soldier came together, ready to fire.

"Briana, give them the lightning!" Vince shouted.

Briana pointed her sword to the sky and let the lightning come crashing down on the blade. She aimed the tip at the gathering soldiers, forcing them to scatter again. Vince kept laying blow after blow at them.

"Vince, there are more coming from the west," Briana admonished.

"These things multiply faster than a bunch of starfish that live in a pineapple under the sea," Vince growled.

"Okay, first of all, you suck at making jokes," Briana said before she kicked a man in the gut. "And secondly, it's a sponge that lives in the pineapple. The starfish lives under a rock."

"I don't care who lives where," Chloe snapped. "Just lay it on the suckers."

A figure slid into battle on his feet. The trio turned to find a young adult with tan skin, short brown hair, and hazel eyes that were alive with a light not seen before. He wore a black jacket over a red t-shirt. His sneakers were caked in grass stains. He raised his hands, gripping at the poles at each side, and electrical bolts coated them. He pulled them out and threw one across the opening, hitting one of the machinery. He raised a hand up, making the machine engulf itself in light. He thrust his arm out, making it explode.

"Wow," Briana and Vince said at once.

The boy looked around at the soldiers that were knocked out clean. He turned and approached the trio. "You three okay?"

"Super," Briana said, giving him a thumbs up.

"Let's do that again," Vince snickered.

"_Victor, you copy?"_ a voice spoke.

The boy, Victor, answered, "I'm right here."

"_Keep your eyes open. That lunatic is running amok."_

"Are you sure?"

"_Positive."_

"Schlitz," Victor cursed under his breath. "Tell your sister to be careful in case." He looked at the taller structures. "She might be after them."

* * *

"Mom?" Jack cried "MOM!"

Adam stopped.

"Adam, come on!" Sierra called out to him.

Adam raised his hand up to the air, fingers slightly spread. A moment later, they could hear the screech of a bird and soon, a hawk landed on his wrist.

"Forgot he can do that," Jack grumbled.

Adam gently stroke the bird of prey before letting it fly. They watched it soar to a structure and circle around it.

"Well, that was quick," Adam said.

"Mom?" Jack called up as they reached the structure. "Mom?"

Jack started to climb with Adam and Sierra in tow. They finally got to the top, panting heavily.

"Mom!" Jack called out.

"June?" Sierra said.

"Don't worry, ma'am," Adam said as they entered the small building on top. "We're gonna get you out of here soon and…"

"Jack?"

"Mom!" Jack gasped as they turned to find her sitting on the floor. "Mom, are you okay?"

"Jack, is it you?" June asked.

"Miss Darby, please calm down," Sierra requested as she knelt down to inspect her. "We're going to get you out of here."

"Jack, how come you never told me much on your friends here? Just look at this. Living in the Big Apple with your father and people who look out for each other. I'm actually so proud of you."

"Lucky," Adam mumbled.

Jack gave him a confused look.

"I meant about your mom being proud of this."

June's smile twisted into a look of spite as she stood up. "I would actually be if I wasn't so disappointed," she snarled, startling and confusing the teens. "You left without even trying to fight to stay, and you get yourself caught up in situations you know you shouldn't get yourself into, like your so-called patriotic father."

Jack felt like he took a slap in the face. Adam and Sierra gave him sad and confused looks.

"But that's not the only thing that disappointed me, Jack. You forgot to even look out for Miko!" June continued. "Remember, you promised me the day I adopted the girl you would try to help her."

"I know, I did," Jack admitted, bowing his head. He looked back up before he caught something over her shoulder. He stiffened when he saw what it was. His shock was replace by shame as he bowed his head. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I let you down. I'm sorry for what I put you through in the last six months. I'm sorry that I blamed you for Dad's departure from the family."

"Yes, you ungrateful brat. I remember that day." June snarled.

"That's funny, because I don't recall anything like that happening between us."

She had fallen for the ruse. June turned around to find…well, a not-so-happy _June_ behind her, dressed in a black suit with silver trimming. She wore a belt, boots, gauntlets, and a leather headband.

"What? How? But I…" Adam couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"Jack, get down now," the June in black snarled.

"Get down!" Jack ordered as he turned and tackled in friends.

'June' launched at June like predator to prey. June jumped out of the way and did a perfect cartwheel. She used her hand to stop herself and glared at the imposter.

Her eyes became completely white. She quickly rose to her feet, strange glyphs appearing on her face. Her palms glowed a brilliant cyan blue. Taking one look behind her, she fired at the imposter, sending her flying.

Her palms stopped glowing, the glyphs disappeared, and her eyes returned to normal. She turned around and walked up to the kids. They had seen her do that, and could not believe what they had seen.

"How did you…?" Jack started.

"Let's get out of here before she wakes up," Sierra started as they went outside.

A loud, metallic thud crashed into the metal nearest to the women's feet. They yelped, startled as Airachnid came into view, laughing.

"Holy Freya!" Sierra screamed.

"We beat your deadline!" Jack shouted.

"Afraid not, Jack,"Airachnid sneered. "The task was not for you to _find_ your mother by midnight, you had to_ rescue _her."

Jack looked to where the clock was, watching the numbers change from 11:59 to midnight.

"And time's up!" Airachnid shot webbing at Jack, pinning his arm to the ground.

Adam mentally told the hawk to leave before it could get hurt and before he found himself pinned down. Sierra pulled out her crossbow, aiming it at Airachnid, but it was slapped out of her grasp and she found her foot in webbing as well.

"Funny," June whispered. "I thought I'd die from an alien invasion."

"Take a seat," Airachnid purred to Jack. "Sit back and enjoy the horror show."

Jack snarled, pulling harder at the web.

"N-no!" Sierra whispered.

"Mom, I'm sorry," Jack said as he tried to free his hand from Airachnid's webbing.

"Well now, I think it's time to end this, don't you Jack?" Airachnid said sweetly as she used one of her hand to caress June's cheek.

"Maybe for you," June said before she gave her a crooked grin. "But maybe not for her." She pointed behind her. Confused, Airachnid turned around. Something shot into her face and sent her flying back. Sierra shrieked and ducked down. Jack had managed to get free and ran up to his mother.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"Never mind me," she said. "Let's get going." She turned to the ladder and started to climb down. Sierra and Jack followed her. Adam levitated down to meet them. He was about to find out he wasn't the only one doing it.

He looked up and saw a young woman floating down, her hands emitting red light and the skirt of her dress wavering. Her hair and eyes were glowing the same color. She touched ground and the light disappeared, her hair becoming brown and her eyes were green. "Anyone okay?" she asked.

"Hello beautiful," Adam commented. Sierra elbowed him. "Ow, hey!"

"Mom, what's going on here?" Jack asked. "And how did you …" His eyes widened. "Oh, my god. Are you Machina?"

"Vince, we got June," Sierra whispered into her earpiece. "Gather the others up and we'll head on back."

"_Right on it. And Sierra?"_

"Yeah?"

"_Can you ask Jack who the heck Pietro and Victor are?"_

"You, young man, have so much to explain," June snarled to Jack.

"Hey, so do you," Jack countered.

* * *

"Did see the look on that guy's face?"

"Yeah. It was so funny."

"They had an expression that said, 'Oh crap. What just happened? LOL."

"Airachnid never stood a chance against all of that cement."

The kids were back at the tower, feeling good about how well it went. They had retrieved June and she went to go surprise the others of her return. Miko was catching up somwhere with the three strangers that appeared out of nowhere. They hadn't felt like this ever since the mayhem against Loki. Although, they had to force Vince to help.

And unfortunately, Agent Fowler didn't approve on what had happened.

"You kids do realize," he spoke, interrupting them by surprise, "that what you did was all a mess. You all were just acting like a bunch of rookies and only won because your opponents weren't ready for you." He pointed at Raf and added, "He almost get killed because no one was assisting him at first, Briana acted like the thick-headed man Thor is best known for—"

"Oi!" Briana piped up.

"—not to mention a conceited and arrogant boy Vince is best as he gets—"

"Hey!" Vince voiced.

"—and a kid who can't follow orders."

"Which kid where you referring that to?" Adam asked nervously.

"Okay, we screwed up," Jack defended, standing up. "I know what we did was so reckless, but it can take time. We just need to learn on working together."

Now Fowler was glaring at him. "Why did you even go after them when you know you could have gotten killed so easily?"

Jack froze up.

"Jack, it's him, not Fury," Briana pointed out. "Just answer him."

Jack sighed. "I just...I was mad. I couldn't let him get away with what happened with my mom. I was so scared for her that I thought they had killed her."

"And you guys thought that my weakness was wrath," Briana grumbled, slouching deeper into the couch.

Fowler sighed. "I understand your intentions, son," he said. "But if you used your head a little more, you could have sent one of the others in and dealt with Airachnid on yourself. I know the battle would have been a bit harder, but Raf and Vince could have worked together to download their data before it could have been wiped out."

Jack bowed his head. "I understand. It won't happen again. For a long shot."

"Either way, a win is a win." Fowler headed for the elevator and remarked quite with humor, "And for a first mission together, it went better than it could have."

Jack looked up and watched the elevator closed.

"What do you think will happen if the others found out we still have contact with him?" Raf wondered.

"Let's not worry about that now," Sierra sighed.

* * *

"Starscream!"

Barricade stomped down the hall, looking for the second-in-command. "Starscream, where are you?! You know I do not like to be kept waiting. _STARSCREAM_!"

He stopped when he thought that he heard something. His hand disappeared into his vambrace and a spear blade popped out. He turned around and made his way cautiously down the hall.

"Starscream, where are you?" he growled. "Come on, Megatron will have your head this time."

He yelped and ducked as a clawed hand tried to swipe at him. "Hey, what are you doing?" Barricade shouted angrily, turning to the stranger. His purple optics widened at the stranger. "You."

"Sorry about the pain," the stranger said with little sympathy. "It's temporary and you'll soon learn of it…eventually."

"What are you doing here?" Barricade questioned.

"Oh, you never heard?" the stranger said, placing an arm around Barricade and guiding him down the hall.


	4. Opposites Attract

4\. Opposites Attract

"Ratchet, I think there's something wrong with Wheelie," Briana spoke.

Ratchet groaned, looking down to the tiny blue transtech that was curled up on the couch, a sad look plastered on his face. The medic sighed. "Alright, what's the problem?"

"Here, I fetched you some energon," Brains announced as he hobbled over to Wheelie. He held it up to his buddy, but he still didn't move. Then they watched him turned over.

"Just go ahead," Wheelie wailed in the cushion. "Run like the others. Nobody would want to be friends with a retard like me!"

"Tell that to SpongeBob," Briana snorted.

Ratchet gave her a funny look before turning back to the terminal. Then he looked confused. "Where are the others?"

"Let's see," Briana said, trying to think. "Vince and Chloe are working with Bruce and Tony, Miko and Raf are with Bulkhead, Adam went for a flight, the newbies are still getting settled in, and I'm not sure where Sierra is." She sat up straight with a frown. "She's practically here most of the time when I am."

The elevator pinged open and Adam stumbled inside with a grin. "Dude, these gauntlets make walking a bore."

Briana tilted her head back to look at him. "Enjoyed the view?"

"Oh, I got more view than I _ever_ had," Adam laughed.

Jack gave him an odd look as Arcee came in with some rope. "Ready to go, partner?"

"You bet I am," Jack said with a grin.

"What's going on here?" Adam wondered.

"Tracking practice," Jack told him.

"Ah." Then he turned to Ratchet. "Hey, Doc? How come you never told us Sierra wasn't the only one born of two?"

Ratchet gaped at him. "What do you mean?"

The elevator for the room opened up and June stepped out. Ratchet and Arcee stared at her with wide optics.

"Machina?" Ratchet spoke.

June smirked. It had been two days since June found out about what was really going on. Surprisingly, she actually handled it quite well, despite having a few questions.

"Good to see you again, doctor. Arcee," June acknowledged, earning nods from both. "So…where's Optimus?"

"On a scouting mission with Cliffjumper and Roadbuster. Sorry to disappoint," Ratchet answered.

"And I wore heels and everything," June joked.

"Mom!" Jack cried.

"Aren't you married?" Briana asked, raising a brow.

"That's odd," Ratchet said. "This is an unusual magnetic flux. For any planet."

At that moment, Bulkhead chose to arrive at the base. Coming to a stop, he opened the door to let Miko and Raf out, who were laughing in glee, so he could transform.

"Did you feel the G's on that last turn?! Bulkhead's an animal!" Miko gushed as she stood like one, freezing when she noticed the presence of June and Mariah. "Remember when this used to be a secret clubhouse?"

Banging resonated off the walls before a familiar voice shouted, "Let me out! Let me out!"

"Oops," Bulkhead said before he opened his chest compartment. Sierra's head poked out, revealing her to be dizzy.

"Oh, yeah," Briana realized. "I _forgot_ you were _with_ him."

Bulkhead set Sierra down and she stumbled about. "That was...fun. Just don't tell my parents we did that." She looked up and into June's eyes. "Ooh."

"Don't worry, Ms. Darby. We were wearing seatbelts," Raf immediately reassured the ER nurse.

"I'm sure you were, Rafael. Hi, Miko. How's school going?" June inquired.

"Why? What'd you hear?!" Miko immediately demanded.

"I said nothing!" Sierra said as she raised her hands in defense. "I'm innocent _this_ time."

"Let's do this thing, Jack," Arcee said as she walked past him with some rope, causing him to follow her.

"But I just got here! I brought sandwiches!" June objected.

"Mom, I really need to help Arcee test her new navigation system," Jack said as he went to leave.

"Well, just be careful," June pleaded.

"There's nothing to be careful about. It's a routine diagnostic," Arcee shrugged.

"Oh? Remember what happened last time you said that?" June asked.

"Uh-oh," Bulkhead cringed when he saw Arcee freeze.

"Bulkhead, I need you back in the field to investigate an odd magnetic disturbance," Ratchet announced, quickly diffusing the tension.

"I'll go with!" Miko decided as they went to run off, eager to see some action, only to stop when Bulkhead grabbed them.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Stay put!" Bulkhead chided. "And I mean it."

"Yeah, I don't want to get caught up in another fight against Loki," Sierra said. She covered her mouth, but the words had slipped out of her mouth.

"You did what?" June said in disbelief.

"Someone thinks it's not safe," Miko grumbled.

Jack glared at her.

"I mean, she finds it alright that we go rescue her, but not when it comes to taking down villains like that jerk?" Miko asked.

"Miko! Totally different!" Jack objected.

"Mother knows best, Jack. Take if from me. Wait up, Bulkhead! I'm going with," Arcee decided as she left, causing Jack to groan and sit down.

"Is the air conditioner on?" June asked. "I swore I felt a breeze." June scratched her head before looking around. "Wait. Where's Miko?"

Adam and Jack whipped around to find her missing.

"Did she just say that she felt a breeze?" Raf whispered.

"Ugh, that can only mean one thing," Sierra grumbled.

* * *

"Don't take it so personal, Arcee. Jack's mother is just…protective," Bulkhead shrugged.

"Well, I protected Jack for months before she had a clue. Suddenly, she wakes up to reality and I'm not enough," Arcee sighed.

"No kidding!"

Arcee and Bulkhead turned around in surprise when they heard that voice. Immediately, they saw Miko and Pietro standing behind them casually.

"Can't we ban her from the base or something?" Miko asked.

"Guys, how did you...?" Bulkhead began asking.

"We're gonna need a bridge for Miko," Arcee spoke into the comlink.

"What? What about the boy?" Bulkhead asked.

"You try to catch him and come back with details," Arcee told him.

"Wait! Don't send us back! The boredom in that place is driving me crazy!" Pietro cried, causing Arcee to freeze.

"Not to mention that…I miss the way things were. When we didn't have to hide who we were or what we were doing from the world. When we didn't have any secrets," Miko admitted.

"Strike that, Ratchet. It's only recon. They're safe with us," Arcee shrugged as she scooped Pietro into her hand and rested him on her shoulder.

"Sweet!" Miko cheered as she sat on Bulkhead's shoulder. "Crank up track seven, Bulk!"

"Track seven?" Pietro repeated in confusion.

Immediately, they covered thier ears/audio receptors when the sounds of heavy metal echoed all around them. Arcee turned around and saw Bulkhead and Miko happily jamming to the music.

"Don't you think that's a little loud for recon?" Arcee asked, causing Bulkhead to kill the music and earning a hum of disappointment from Miko. "A scout should be silent. But _deadly_."

Bulkhead and Miko glanced at each other before they burst out laughing. Clearly, they knew what the phrase 'silent, but deadly' means on Earth. Arcee, however, didn't.

"What?" Arcee demanded.

"Silent but deadly means something completely different on Earth," Bulkhead clarified.

"Bulk! Let's get our recon on!" Miko cheered as Bulkhead walked in front of Arcee.

"I _always_ take point!" Arcee protested.

"I know. But Miko likes to be up front so she can see," Bulkhead said.

"No matter _where_ I turn, I'm the _third_ wheel," Arcee grumbled.

"You know," Pietro started with a wry grin, "I'm sure that once this is all over, I'll have Wanda restrain her next time."

"Looks like Ratchet's magnetic flux is coming from…" Bulkhead trailed off.

They suddenly looked down and saw trouble up ahead. Miko recognized both of them, though Pietro had no idea who they were.

"Airachnid," Arcee snarled.

"Both of your arch enemies! And they're mashing it up!" Miko remarked.

"Over that," Bulkhead said, noticing the device on Breakdown's hand.

"The source of the magnetic disturbance," Arcee realized.

"Alright. What's the plan?" Miko asked.

Bulkhead placed her on his hand and onto the ground. Arcee did the same with Pietro.

"Alright, don't move. I mean it," Bulkhead warned as they went to join the fight.

Miko and Pietro were still hidden away from Airachnid and Breakdown. They couldn't see the battle. But they could hear every word they said. It was pretty loud.

"So, did you run into a girl who can fly and breath fire?" Miko asked.

"You know, I thought you would for once listen when we told you to stay put," Pietro said.

"Well, MECH found me there and I ended up going into hiding with Jack and his mom," Miko explained. "And you're lucky. All you have to do is _run_. Maybe you'll be not fine when you're standing still, but when moving you—"

"You think I want to be?" Pietro questioned as he stood up. "People keep telling me to wait, and I'm waiting. I don't even know for what. We had Silas helpless after all of these years, and you—"

"Arcee. And look. You brought a new partner for me to snuff," Airachnid smirked.

"That would be Bulkhead," Breakdown said as he stood up.

"Who asked _you_?" Airachnid scoffed.

"Launch me," Arcee growled.

"Whoa. They're really good together," Miko said as they listened.

"Smack down for the scrapbook?" Pietro guessed.

"Oh yeah," Miko stated as she began taking photos.

Then trouble came in the form of Breakdown possessing the mysterious device. Then he pressed the button.

"Thank you," Breakdown conveyed with a smirk.

"Do you even know what that does? It isn't a toy!" Airachnid said before running off.

Miko was continuously taking shots for her Autobot scrapbook when something odd happened. Her phone slipped out of her hands, despite her protests.

"Hey!" Bulkhead yelled as he found himself getting pulled in.

"What's going on?" Arcee grunted as she was pulled in as well.

"Megatron's gonna love this," Breakdown smirked as he drove away.

Quickly, Miko and Pietro slid down the rocks and raced towards their fallen friends.

"Bulkhead!" Miko cried. "Hey! My phone!" She went to pull her phone free. But found that she couldn't. "It's stuck!"

"Where's Arcee?" Bulkhead asked worriedly as he sat up.

Miko let out a groan of frustration before asking, "Why don't you just marry her?"

"I'm right behind you."

"Where?" Bulkhead demanded as he stood up.

"Let's just say she's got your back," was all Miko said.

Bulkhead went to turn around, inadvertently revealing Arcee's location to the two. Turns out that she was stuck to his upper back. Despite using all her strength, Arcee just couldn't separate herself from Bulkhead.

"Scrap," Arcee grumbled.

* * *

"You've been magnetized together?!"

Jack sat there, not believing what he was hearing.

_"They're inseparable,_" Miko reported.

_"And the device that did this is on its way to Megatron,_" Bulkhead added.

"A polarity gauntlet! A deceptively simple but diabolical creation!" Ratchet growled.

_"Just tell me you can unhitch us,"_ Arcee asked.

"It may be simply a residual magnetic charge providing your current…attraction," Ratchet chose his words carefully.

_"THEY'RE NOT ATTRACTED TO EACH OTHER!"_ Miko shouted.

_"I think he knows that,"_ Pietro groaned from the shouting.

"But I'm afraid retrieving the gauntlet is our surest bet of reversing its effect," Ratchet decreed. "Once Megatron gets his hands on the gauntlet…"

"He'll be using it for a lot more then attaching notes and family photos to the fridge," Wheelie surmised.

"I'm not following," Wanda confessed.

"From what I know of these guys, they're forged of metal alloy. If Megatron could repel them all with the flick of a switch, they might never again have a shot at him," Victor processed gravely.

"Instant force field," Raf explained.

"You telling us that it could end badly should Megatron possess it?" Sierra questioned.

"Worse yet. He may use it to meld us all into a scrap heap!" Ratchet went on. "The good news is the gauntlet hasn't travelled far. I would strongly advise pursuit."

_"We can catch up faster on wheels._" Bulkhead suggested.

_"Whoa, whoa, whoa! And snap myself in half?" _Arcee said.

"_I can outrun that sucker,"_ Pietro piped.

"_No, we're going to need you to get Miko back to base,"_ Arcee said

_"What?"_ Miko protested._ "But you said—"_

_"That was recon. _This_ is war. I'm not risking your wellbeing just so you could hit your daily adrenaline quota. Ratchet, Miko and Pietro need a bridge_."

"Coming up," Ratchet nodded.

_"You think June is bad? You sound just like her!"_

_"Miko, shut up!"_ Pietro exclaimed in horror.

"No, Wanda won that award," Victor said.

"Hey!" Wanda exclaimed.

"You always say that we should be honest, and it is what I am doing," Victor said.

The groundbridge activated and Miko stormed in with Pietro behind her.

"I can't believe her," Miko scoffed.

"They're adults," Sierra spoke, throwing her hands up in the air. "What did you expect? They're trying to make sure we don't get squashed like a cockroach."

"So, what did it look like?" Jack asked.

"What did?" Miko asked.

"Arcee attached to Bulkhead."

Pietro burst out laughing. "It was awesome! It looked like she was a freakin' backpack."

"So, what happened?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, tell us the story," Briana requested with excitement.

Sierra had opened her mouth before Vince came in, supporting Tony as he was gasping for air.

"What happened?" Adam asked.

"Well, Ol' Smokey here got halfway to the table and collapsed," Vince answered, patting Tony on the back.

"I have the lung capacity of a two year old," Tony gasped.

"I can't imagine why," June teased, receiving a glare from Tony.

Pietro saw that Victor and Wanda were glaring at him. "What?"

"You don't just learn from mistakes, do you?" Victor groaned as he brushed past him.

"I don't get it," Pietro said, causing June to shake her head.

"You keep sneaking off like that, and you're going to get killed," Wanda chided.

"And yet here I'm still am," Pietro exclaimed, his arms spread out. "Do you see how it works? It's the magic here."

"Really?" Vince said, hands on his hips. He forgot about Tony and he found himself on the floor. "'Cause I don't recall magic existing at all."

Wanda glared at him.

"Undo it, undo it," Miko warned, swiping a hand over her throat.

"…Ow…"

That was when Arcee called for a groundbridge. Immediately, they handed the polarity gauntlet to an arriving Ratchet, who was just happy that they were safe.

"Souvenir. But..." Bulkhead began.

"We don't advise indoor use," Arcee finished.

"Ew! They even finish each other sentences!" Miko cringed in obvious disgust.

Vince and Tony laughed at that.

"Miko! Check it out! New battle scars!" Bulkhead boasted, causing Miko to take out her phone and capture the photo.

"Arcee, hey!" Jack greeted.

"Let the adults talk, you kids," June requested.

"Uh-oh," Jack muttered.

"Well, this won't end well," Tony grunted as he stood up. "Well, we'll be needing your help again, kiddo."

"I just need to talk to Arcee for a second," June said.

Adam and Jack looked at each other warily before Victor forced them away a little farther. Vince followed Tony and Ratchet as June turned to Arcee.

"Arcee, I think I owe you an apology," June admitted.

"You do?" Arcee said in surprise.

"I worry. Especially when it feels like I can't control things. Which, with a teenager, is all the time. Jack and I have always been close, especially when Steve was forced to leave and I resigned beforehand and…I guess it's just hard to accept that all of this is changing. Which I knew would happen one day. But you're not the kind of girl I thought Jack would start ditching me for. And I never thought that I'd be finding Steve in a peculiar way. Or finding Victor back in our arms once more," June remarked.

"I think we're all guilty of being attached to the way things were," Arcee relented.

* * *

"If you are trying to hide something that even Starscream does not know about, then you do a fine job of it."

Surprised, Barricade turned to face his lord. "I do not know what you mean, my liege," he replied with a slight bow.

"I've heard rumors," Megatron told him. "Rumors that there is another Decepticon here on the ship that I do not know of, one that I have no history with, yet I am about to one day."

Barricade cringed inwardly. He didn't want to talk about this. "Are you sure of that, my liege?" he asked.

Megatron glared at him. "Should I be?"

Barricade thought it over. "Not that I know of," he said.

"How loyal are you, hunter?"

Barricade winced. Just what was he getting at? "My liege, I have been distracted from my duties since I have been so _busy_ serving you. I haven't had time to see what it is you speak about."

Starscream and Soundwave had heard of the discussion. They turned to see what was going on. None of them noticed Breakdown slowly walk in.

"Um, Barricade?"

Barricade looked at the former Wrecker before glancing up at his lord. "Permission to leave, my liege."

"Granted," Megatron snarled in defeat. Then he turned to Starscream and Soundwave. "Both of you, return to your work."

Barricade exit the room and down the hall, past Breakdown. He continued down it until he reached a certain stock room, where he hid his mysterious guest.

"Didn't really expect to see you after all these years," Barricade commented as he entered the stock room

"Alice and Stinger are still scouting for a hideout, but I'll be happy to help you with the troopers," the stranger said. "After all, a good leader is only first among equals."

"You are _not_ leader," Barricade stated. "Not _yet_, at least." He turned away. "You can stay in this room for now." Then he stopped. "Though I'm confused, I was never mentioned of a key before, even from Crosshairs before he turned on you."

"Crosshairs, yes," the stranger said. "Well, he wouldn't of known. Primus knows how much of a convicted arrogance he can be."

"Unfortunately," Barricade grumbled.

"No one really know about the danger that will come, but our story falls apart if we don't find those guardians first."

"Yeah, well, what if they go to the president or the FBI?"

"They know to hand them over. Their world as they know it is gone."

"Ha!"

"Is that a problem?"

"Yes. You obviously have never studied these humans. The Avengers, the X-Men, SHIELD, SWORD, NEST, everyone like them should not be _underestimated_. I've seen what they can do."

"What kind of things?"

Barricade showed him the remaining scars Logan gave him. "This came from an Earthling. Had a pretty good hit on me. These humans fight tooth and claw to keep their precious world safe from things like us."

The stranger smiled. "Well, I guess we're going to have to change that soon."


	5. Ghosts of the Past

5\. Ghosts of the Past

_"Run!"_

Phyla could feel sickening eyes burning on her back, seeping into her soul. She could feel the air around her being swiped at and the stinging by blades all over again. She and Warlock were dead to him, but they couldn't escape. She could be told to run, but she wouldn't move.

Her companion groaned as she grabbed his shoulder, forcing his to stop running deeper into the tunnel. Irritated, he looked to her.

"Warlock, let's think this through."

"Why, so we can live that nightmare all over again?" he quipped, shaking her hand off of him.

"And you think you know what you're doing?" she retoted. "I'm Adam Warlock," she spat. "Lord Chaos and Master Order were going to choose me to be their Champion of Life. And I saw myself _kill_ Phyla!"

"Alright, Phyla, if that is bothering you then why didn't you say something about it before we got captured?" Warlock asked.

She turned away from him. "I thought you were going to accept it," she said.

"Phyla, when have I ever given in to what people like them say? It's not like I would ever contribute with them. Why, just a few weeks ago you helped me take down Mojo and his rag gang. This isn't war as far as I'm concerned."

This wasn't what she wanted to hear right now.

"But let's not worry about that right now. We have far more important things to worry of." He took her hand and guided her down the dark halls.

* * *

"We're supposed to be at a rock concert!" Miko whined. "But all I see is rock!"

"If she puts on her own concert, then it _will_ be a rock concert," Adam muttered.

"Relax, Miko," Jack said, waving a hand. "The show doesn't start for two hours."

The Asian girl's features darkened as she turned to him, claws jutting out.

"Uh-oh," Adam said.

"Do you know how long I've waited to see Slash Monkey?" Miko grounded out.

"Uh…?" Jack started.

"Forever!" Miko shrieked, cutting him off. "And it's their only U.S. date."

Adam grinned. "We could just groundbridge you to the next one," he supplied.

"That'd be interesting," Jack said. "Miko: Causing chaos, one city at a time!"

"Shut up," Miko growled as Bulkhead and Arcee walked out of the cave.

"By all appearances the mine's been stripped," Arcee said.

"But I'm getting a signal!" Bulkhead protested. "It's faint, but it's _definitely_ energon."

"Whoa!" Miko breathed, looking back at her companions in excitement.

"Doesn't make sense," Arcee muttered. "This operation's been abandoned four maybe five years? And Decepticons _never_ leave energon behind."

Miko jumped off the rock and ran into the cave.

"Uh, guys?" Jack asked.

The two Autobots looked down at him. Jack pointed to the cave. There was no trying to stop Miko. He'd just gotten used to it.

"Cool!" Miko yelled, running farther into the cave.

"She went in," Arcee sighed.

"Unbelievable," Adam commented sarcastically.

"Really?" Jack asked as he jumped down from the rocks. "Have you _met_ her?"

"Miko, get back here!" Bulkhead groaned.

"It would be kind of interesting to see…" Adam hinted, looking innocently up at Arcee. "You know if it were…"

"Safe?" Arcee said. "A stripped mine is structurally unstable, Adam."

"Pwease?" Adam begged, giving her his best puppy pout. Fake tears began to appear in his eyes.

"Just…don't tell your parents," she finally said.

Jack smiled and Adam pumped his fist as they followed Arcee in.

"This place is awesome," Jack breathed as he looked up at the glittering pillars of stone.

"I know," Adam giggled.

Arcee froze, holding a servo up to her comlink.

"Bulkhead?...Scrap," she cursed. "The mineral composition is causing too much interference."

The air in front of them glowed. Adam jumped and ducked behind Arcee as two figures appeared; one male, one female.

"Did they follow us?" the girl asked.

"No, I saw no one coming," the man answered.

Adam poked his head out from behind. He gave Jack a quizzical look. He shrugged in return.

"Hey, I hear voices," the girl said. They started down the tunnel.

"Maybe it's Bulkhead and Miko," Adam whispered before they followed.

"You have ceased to be of use to me, Starscream," a gravelly voice growled. "So you shall simply cease to be!"

The group froze as they came to the entrance. Jack peered inside and saw Megatron pointing his blaster at Starscream's helm.

"He's going to kill him!" Adam whispered in horror.

Arcee came up behind the boys, freezing as she saw the situation.

Megatron looked up at the group, a moment of silence passed. Then he began shooting at them. Arcee dove forwards, knocking the smaller beings out of the way.

"Stay down!" she yelled.

Megatron shot at the pillar they were hiding behind mercilessly.

The man grabbed the woman. "Let's get out of here," he told him as he dragged her with him.

The shots ceased for a moment.

"STARSCREAM!" Megatron roared, "You _dare_ abandon me?"

A blast shook the cavern. Arcee shot at the warloard. He turned around, trying to shoot at her again. But Arcee kept at him forcing his blasts to angle upwards and into the unstable ceiling.

"Warlock!"

Jack and Adam turned around as the saw the man collide with a pillar and fell to the ground.

Suddenly, the cavern began to rumble, shaking violently. Arcee stumbled, looking back at Jack, who was trying to get to Warlock's side with Adam. One of the spires cracked off from the ceiling, burying the creature beneath it. Cracks began to form in the ground, and they snaked towards Arcee.

"Scrap!" Arcee hissed as she backed up. Before she could do anything, the ground beneath her gave in.

"Jack, we gotta get out of here," Adam shouted over the noise.

Jack didn't have the time to respond as the Earth swallowed them up.

* * *

Jack awoke, blearily blinking his eyes. He couldn't move. He was stuck. Jack started panicking, struggling to free himself. The rocks shattered and the boy was free. Phyla hoisted Jack from the rubble.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Ow, yeah," Jack groaned.

"Arcee?" Adam's voice called out. "Bulkhead? Miko?"

Nothing but echoes came back, mocking him.

"I do not see anyone," Warlock sighed.

"Shame we didn't bring Longshot with us," Phyla mumbled.

"Oh! Jack, look," Adam piped, pointing behind him.

Jack turned around and saw a drill.

"Perfect," he said as he ran up to it.

"What is that?" Phyla asked, curiously examining it.

"Don't know, don't care," Adam said as he followed Jack with Warlock behind.

"Do we dare trust them?" Phyla asked Warlock quietly.

"I do not know," Warlock whispered. "But I guess we have no choice for now."

Jack climbed up to the control panel and helped the rest up. Adam went over to the controls and looked at it. He pressed on the panel, hoping and praying he hit the right one.

"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" Jack asked.

"I don't see you doing anything," Adam spat, right as the drill came to life.

"Well, you turned it on," Phyla commented. "I'll give you credit for that."

Jack hit the lever and the drill moved forwards. He smiled and immediately thought of something.

"Roll out," he said, grinning.

Adam glared at him. "Really?"

"You know what?" Jack exclaimed. "Screw you! I don't see you coming up with famous battle cries."

The drill hit a barrier of rock. There seemed to be something underneath there.

"I don't think we should go any farther," Warlock suggested.

"Kind of too late for that," Adam said to him.

A few seconds later, a clean clear hole defaced the barrier. Jack smiled as he pulled the drill back and to the side, eager to see his friends. When the dust settled, the smile melted off his face. Because, the face Jack saw in the rocks was none other than Megatron's.

"I suppose helping those less fortunate would be completely out of the question?" he asked the boy.

Jack's blue eyes glinted uncertainly as he backed up slowly.

"If that _is_ the case," he continued, "you might as well use your drill to finish me. I guarantee that you will never have a better opportunity than right now."

Phyla warily looked at Warlock, then to the controls.

"Well?" he growled. "What are you waiting for? Think of the glory! _'Seize the day!'_ Optimus would."

"No…" The reply was so soft that Jack himself barely heard it. "He wouldn't," he said, louder. "Not like this."

He turned away and started the drill again.

"You are making a grave mistake for not finishing me off," the monster shouted. "And last time I checked, Adam Warlock, you and your little girlfriend here were Mojo's property."

"I do not know who you are, but I can assure you that he will not hurt anyone like us ever again," Warlock seethed.

"We're just leaving," Jack snarled as he began to pull away.

"I will be sure to share the little details of our conversation with Optimus – the day I rip out his spark!" Megatron hollered as they took off.

"Who's Mojo?" Adam asked.

Warlock turned away, his eyes darkening. "He's a creature from a race called the Spineless Ones. He runs a place they call the Mojoverse, where he hosts gladiatorial games that would even disgust you two. He had captured Phyla and I along with a fellow agent named Longshot and many others. With his help we escaped to here. We never heard from him since."

They were all quiet, save for the drilling.

"Dude," Adam said.

A loud boom rattled the drill, jolting them out of their thoughts. Jack stopped it for a moment and looked around.

"That's it, Autobot!" an almost high pitched voice screeched. "I will…"

"You'll what?" a deeper voice snapped. "You'll make me bring down the ceiling on top of all of us?!"

"That sounds like Starscream," Jack said aloud.

"What's that creep doing here?" Adam wondered.

Jack started the drill again.

"Run, Miko!" Bulkhead yelled.

"Yes," Starscream purred. "Run Miko, I'd love to see you try. Really I _would_."

Jack growled, ramming the drill's point into the wall. "Hang on!"

Miko was like a sister to him. Annoying at times, yes. But she was _his_ little sister. The drill bit into the chamber behind the wall, catching Starscream in the side. Jack stopped the drill and looked at Bulkhead.

"Jack!" the green mech grunted. "Get Miko out of here! NOW!"

Phyla hopped down and held out her hand to Miko. The girl hesitated.

"It's okay," Adam assured her. "They're friendly. Now, come on!"

Miko looked painfully at her guardian and then back to Phyla.

"Come on, come on!" Phyla shouted.

"Run Miko!" Bulkhead shouted as the ceiling began to cave again.

Miko reached up for Phyla's hand and she pulled her up, seeing tears in her amber eyes.

"We can't leave Bulkhead!" Miko wailed.

"I'm sorry," Jack whispered as he backed the drill out. "I wish there was something I could do."

Jack drove through another wall. Miko had climbed up next to him, unusually silent.

"We will find a way to save him, won't we?" Adam finally asked.

"You guys and I just need to find a way out of here before Megatron digs himself free," Jack said.

"Megatron's down here too?" Miko panicked.

"Now might not have been a good time to bring that up," Adam said.

Warlock jumped up to the controls and stopped the drill.

"Hey!" Jack exclaimed, glaring at him.

"There's something up ahead," Warlock muttered, looking into the darkness.

Jack looked up ahead to see what Warlock saw. The teenager broke into a smile as he realized who was in front of them.

"Arcee!" he shouted.

"I'm glad you three are alive," Arcee said. Then she glanced over at both Phyla and Warlock before asking, "Where's Bulkhead?"

"Starscream has him trapped in the next cavern," Jack explained.

"You can save him, right?" Miko begged in desperation.

"Or die trying," Arcee promised, heading to the cavern they just left. "You five get out of here. I found a way out, just keep going."

"No problem," Jack sighed.

She gave a wave and disappeared.

"Let's roll out," Jack said, moving the drill forwards.

Adam stared at him.

"What?"

"Really, Jack?" Adam said. "Do you know how many times people have used that line?"

"You know what?" Jack started. "Screw you. I don't see you coming up with one liners."

"Didn't they just argue about this a long time ago?" Phyla asked Warlock.

"I've got the whole entire dictionary of words," Adam retaliated, spreading his arms out.

"Spread out more in your research then," Jack suggested.

"I don't have to, when every word ever known in written down in them," Adam shot back with a smirk.

Jack was about to make a comeback when they heard a sound. Miko looked over at the edge to see what it was and she froze up.

"Miko?" Jack asked in concern.

"Bomb!" she screamed, and they all jumped and ran. The bomb attached to the driller exploded and caused them to fly forward in their direction.

"Miko! Adam!" Jack called out in the smoke. He yelled and covered his head as someone began to shoot in his direction. He ran and jumped behind a pile of rocks. Warlock and Phyla hid behind a large boulder and tried to regain their breathing.

"We need to get them out of here before they can get hurt," Warlock told Phyla.

"Then we need to get rid of this madman first," Phyla suggested.

Miko poked her head from her hiding place. "Hey, jack wagon!" she shouted to the perpetrator. "Betcha can't catch me!" Then she ran off.

_Idiot!_

Jack was about to go after her when a shot forced him to duck back down. By the time he stood back up, both Miko and the shooter were gone.

"Stay here," Jack ordered Adam as he took off.

Miko was nearly out of breath by the time she rounded a corner. She leaned against the wall and panted. She cursed herself for being an idiot. Then an idea popped into her head.

The assassin crept into the area that Miko had hid herself in. He reloaded his gun and held it close to prepare for fire.

"I need backup, one of the caves near the city. Rendezvous three minutes."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another bomb. He activated it and let it roll over to where the voice came from.

"Two civilians threatened. Repeat, civilians threatened."

The bomb stopped, but where should have been was a recorder with a phone.

"I need the backup, one of the caves near the city. Rendezvous two minutes.

The bomb exploded. Suddenly, Miko jumped from her hiding place and on top of him. She was ready to finish him off when he threw her off of him. She tumbled and managed to get back on her feet.

"Miko!"

Miko whirled around. "Jack?"

BANG!

A loud noise echoed throughout the cavern. Jack stopped and froze in his place. Realizing what happened after a moment, he continued down in the direction.

_Please be okay,_ he prayed to himself.

By the time he got to the area, he gasped when he saw Miko sprawled on the floor. The man, without turning, aimed his gun at Jack. This was it. It was the end of him.

"...Ow..."

Both gaped at Miko as she lifted herself up, rubbing the back of her head. She felt something wet and raised her hand to her face to her fingertips coated in blood. She furrowed her brows and glared at her supposed killer.

"That-that was suppose to kill you," the man said. "But of course, you have to be one of those heroes that's immune, didn't you?"

Jack growled and activated his shield. "No one tries to kill my friends and gets away with it," he snarled before throwing the disc at the man.

The guy managed to dodge the shield, but Jack jumped and attacked him. While they sparred, Miko jumped behind a stalagmite and peeked out. In the process, Jack flung his shield. The man avoided it, only to look up and let Jack punch him in the face, mask flying off.

"Boo-yah!" Miko cheered.

Jack panted as the stranger turned around. Jack froze. Chills ran down the teen's spine at the sight of who the person was.

Miko looked between the two challengers. It looked like they weren't ever leaving. No one was going to leave until one stood victorious. And she prayed that the victor would be Jack.

Adam swooped in and pushed Jack out of the way. Both of them went for cover as the gun kept firing, but one blow sent them flying. Jack tried to move, but found pain crawling up his calf.

"Adam, get Miko out of here," Jack ordered.

Adam nodded and went to retrieve Miko. He managed to get her out of there as the man came up to Jack. He felt a hand grab his shirt and flipped him over. He winced and forced himself not to scream at the agonizing pain.

"Bucky, stop!" Jack choked. "Stop, it's me!"

No answer came as a fist was ready to be brought down.

"Bucky it's me, Jack, the little boy you rescued," Jack yelled.

The man hesitated, staring at Jack. The determination morphed into a state of hurt before recognition flickered in his eyes. Outside Jack was ready for the blow, but inside he was so relieved.

_You're home, Bucky._ Those words brought some comfort to him. _Welcome back._

* * *

Arcee and Bulkhead came into the cavern. They were expecting the kids and the two strangers there after discovering pieces of broken machinery. They did not expect Jack to be sitting across from a scruffy man on the ground, talking in hushed voices. They didn't even expect Steve to enter with Logan behind him.

"Buck?" Steve spoke. The man slowly looked up at him. "Bucky, do you remember me?"

Bucky just blinked. He turned away as if to hide his meekness.

"Jack?" Bulkhead asked. "You okay?"

Jack smiled softly. "Yeah, I'm fine."

The older men looked at each other, then Steve said, "Arcee, call for a bridge and escort the kids back to base."

Arcee nodded and requested a bridge. They headed outside where Wheeljack and Bumblebee were waiting. Adam looked over at Jack as he approached them. "You okay?"

"Good," Jack sighed.

"Who was that guy?" Miko whispered.

Jack shrugged. He didn't want to tell them that he knew the man once upon a time. He didn't think they would understand if he told them. Miko would flip out and Adam…well, it was hard to tell with him.

"We could have finished them, right there and then," Arcee offered.

"Shame we didn't bring any grenades," Bulkhead muttered.

"Would Optimus finish him?" Jack asked, looking up at them.

Both were silent.

"No," Arcee finally said. "He probably wouldn't. Not like this."

"But Optimus wouldn't rescue him either, right?" Miko added.

No one knew how to answer that.

"Let's go home," Bulkhead said, tiredly.

"Come on," Phyla called out to them. "We are leaving."

Miko and Adam trotted after them with Jack limping behind. He was more focused on Bucky. Whatever did happen to him? What connection could he have possibly have made in the past with the Autobots and every other ally of theirs? Jack ran through every event he knew in history to match his current one.

"I'll probably find out at base," he told himself as he followed the others into a groundbridge portal.

**Well, that's another wrap up. I now have a new poll on my account. If you want you guys can check it out. Just a suggestion. Until then, R&amp;R.**


	6. Dark Times

**The poll I had up while writing the first installment of the series lead me to another problem with the characters you guys want. I'm not going to be able to make room for them. Half of the ones you guys voted for are ones that I wasn't even planning to add to the mix. So most of them will make appearances as cameo, flashbacks, or else in future works. Which reminds me, I'm at works on planning a prequel. That's right, folks! You guys will one day read on how the Avengers and Team Prime meet. It will take place before, during, and after ****_Marvel's The Avengers_****. Plot? That is a surprise!**

**Anyways, I'll let you get reading.**

**WARNING:**** This story is gonna get dark. You've been warned.**

6\. Dark Times

**Jackson William Darby**

**Enhanced strength, endurance, agility, speed, reflexes, durability, and healing**

**Wields vibranium-steel alloy shield**

**Miko Nakadai**

**Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, coordination, balance, endurance, senses**

**Retractable adamantium-laced bone claws**

**Regenerative healing factor**

**Adam Robert Wilson**

**Skilled martial artist**

**Telepathic link with birds**

**Rafael Jorge González Esquivel**

**Ability to cling to most surfaces**

**Genius-level intellect**

**Regenerative healing factor**

**Precognitive spider-senses**

**Vincent Howard Stark**

**Cyberpathic link with powered Uru armory**

**Energy repulsors**

**Missiles**

**Sierra Natalie Barton**

**Skilled archer**

**Martial artist and marksman**

**Enhanced psychological defenses**

**Briana Thorsdottir-Foster**

**Flight**

**Asgardian strength and speed**

**Wields sword of power**

**Chloe Bernice Chancellor**

**Flight**

**Fire breathing**

**Regenerative healing factor**

**Superhuman strength, speed, agility, reflexes, coordination, balance, endurance, senses, and durability**

**Atmospheric Adaptation**

****Thermal Resistance****

**Pietro Maximoff**

**Superhuman speed and reflexes**

**Improved thermal homeostasis**

**Increased metabolism**

**Extreme Force Generation**

**Wanda Maximoff**

**Mental manipulation**

**Telekinesis **

**Psionic energy blasts**

**Telepathy**

**Victor Jonas Shade**

**Technopathy**

**Intangibility**

**(What else is there?)**

Jack stared at the list. He had a notion to add Warlock and Phyla as well, but he debated against it. There was no telling as to how long they were going to stay with them. Bucky had been put under survelliance in case, left in his own room back at headquarters. Even the Autobots were keeping their optics on him.

So yeah, it was better to wait and see what happened.

"C'mon, Jack," Miko begged. "Can't you just whisper it in my ear?"

Jack glared up at her. He could, but she didn't know how to handle such a thing like that. The question seemed to haunt him. The now sixteen year old kid didn't need to know such a thing. Besides, if her dad found out what she learned, both of them would no longer exist.

"You know what you need?" Miko suggested, making Jack glad she had changed the subject. "A girlfriend."

Jack looked shocked. "A what? Why do I need one?"

"You've barely got out of the house for the last few weeks. Meaning that this is your chance."

Jack didn't know who she was talking about, but even Miko was more considered a sister to him. But then so was Jodi and Paul at school before they hooked up. Then again, she could barely be more than a friend; he couldn't just go up to her and make a move. Now he really needed to talk to Paul. Then again…

"I'm not going to just ask some random girl if she wants to be my girlfriend," Jack proclaimed.

"No, but maybe she _wants_ you to ask her."

Miko had a point. But Jack knew better than to trust her. Especially since he saved her skin countless times. "I don't know. I mean, I know what you're up to, but I don't think it's right."

"You always say that," Miko whined.

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"No, I don't."

"Yes you do."

"NO I DON'T!"

"Well, have you even given it a chance?"

"Miko, I'm not in the mood."

"You're _never_ in the mood," she pointed out as she walked away.

"Hey, Jack!" Adam called up as he ran up to him. "You'll never guess what happened."

"That I have no life in my future?" Jack sighed.

"What? No. What? Never mind. Someone managed to break into Sector Seven headquarters and got away with some data."

"What?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah, man. Took down every guard in their path and took it all."

"The people took their stuff?" Jack said as he got up and they made their way to the parking lot.

"Not just any people," Adam said. "The guy was so smooth that you couldn't tell who the heck it was."

Jack stared at him.

"School's out for the summer!" Vince's voice rang out as he ran down the pathway and towards Roadbuster.

"Well, someone's happy for it to be over," Jack commented.

"Yeah, in two months," Adam snorted.

"God, she's so annoying," a voice caught her attention.

"Right? She's like 'Oh, I'm Sierra. I'm so perfect and I love science.' Then the next thing we know she's flirting with that Darby boy. She's so pathetic."

Both of them froze as the conversation continued on. Briana managed to show up.

"She's a fake. I mean, look at the semi truck she rides in. It's so dinky and rustic."

"Too bad Optimus can't defend himself against them," Briana growled from behind.

"Come to think of it, have you noticed how different Jack is?" one of the girls asked. "He's been working out lately, and I've seen him getting a bit of a temper lately."

"He's still a dork," the first girl stated.

"Why does he still hang around with that Asian girl?" the second one wondered.

"Probably desperate, if you know what I mean."

A fit full of giggles made their mouths drop. Jack snapped. He stormed over to the other side.

"You got a problem with my little sister?" he snarled.

All three girls looked up at Jack in surprise.

"Why don't you just go up and say it to our faces?" Briana dared them. "Unless you're all so busy!" She could just picture how disappointed the team would be if they found out what was going on.

The black haired girl was the first to recover with a smirk. "At least I get some, unlike freaks like you."

"Because I don't want to get pregnant and find myself working at a gas station," Briana shot back. "And at least I found a guy that respects me."

Adam stayed back, watching in worry.

"I've got friends who would back me up," Briana added. "Three against seven. And four of them are boys!"

The second girl snorted. "Yeah, with one of them a baby and another hitting off of girls."

"Then why is it that he didn't hit on you girls?" Briana drawled. "Because he can just hear blah, blah, blah from you."

The leader of the clique felt her face heat up. "At least I have a life and a functional family. Where is your dad? Can't even come to your rescue, because he left you. He doesn't want you. He just—"

Briana slapped the girl so hard that she nearly fell over. Jack held her back.

"My dad," she snarled through clenched teeth, "is a good man that you won't get. He comes back. He always comes back. Yours left you. He didn't want anything to do with—"

"Briana, stop!" Jack shouted. Briana was panting so hard as the girl had her mouth dropped open.

"All right, you three," Adam spoke with a snap. "This show is over. Step away from our rides and get lost."

All three girls backed off and ran away. Adam turned to Briana. "You okay?"

"No," Briana sniffled. "I don't believe her, but I am afraid my dad _will_ leave one day."

"You can't honestly blame him if he does," Jack sighed. "He is Asgardian and future ruler of said realm. It'll be his responsibility one day. Would you rather stay at home while we go to the silo, just to cool off?"

Briana nodded. "I could definitely use some peace and quiet."

"Jack," Sierra called out from behind. "Can I have a word with you?"

"Hold on," Jack said. "I'll be at base in a moment."

"We'll be waiting," Adam said as he helped Briana and Raf into Cliffjumper.

"Hey, Jack," Sierra said. "I um, I want to ask you something." She noticed Briana's face that had grown red. "What happened here?"

"Math," Briana grumbled.

"Looks like I'm with you today," Miko cheered as she mounted Arcee.

"Well, there is a party Tony was going to throw in weeks' worth," Sierra told Jack. "I don't know what it's for. Even my parents won't tell me. They say it's a surprise."

Jack raised a brow. "Sounds like it'll be about us."

"But, I don't have a date," Sierra told Jack, blushing. "I could ask Vince , but…I was wondering if you could be my escort."

Briana raised her brows. This was new for her friend, even by standers. She had turned down jocks like Trent or regular guys like that Ethan kid, but no one would expect her to ask Jack to go with her to said celebration.

"Really? Um, I mean...sure. I'd love...I mean—ugh!" he exclaimed. An elbow from Adam got him to say, "I'd be honored to."

"Uh-oh," Raf gulped.

"What?" Briana asked. She looked over and saw Miko with her eyes narrowed.

"So, when is it?" Jack wondered.

"Sometime when school's out," Sierra shrugged. "I don't know, maybe the fourth of July."

"Okay, I'll be there," Jack confirmed.

And now for the fun part.

She watched Jack and Sierra exchange their phone numbers and goodbyes, and Jack watched the girl until she rounded the building, out of sight. Briana witnessed reality catch up to him like an invention blowing up in Tony's face. He turned to see Miko scowling at him.

"Look, I know what you're thinking…"

"Good. Then I won't have to explain why you walked all the way to the base."

"Wait, what?"

The girl didn't stick around to hear his reply.

"Well, this just made my day," Briana giggled.

"You're not helping," Jack growled.

"Wasn't suppose to," Briana said. She pounded on Cliffjumper's dashboard. "Wake up."

"Mama, is it cookie time?" Cliffjumper grumbled. He realized what he said and his alt mode stiffened. Adam just burst out laughing.

"That was random," Raf said.

"Um, where's Cee?" Cliffjumper asked.

"Miko took off with her," Jack grumbled.

"Ooh, what did you do Darby?" Cliffjumper teased as he backed out and headed for base.

"I didn't do anything," Jack retorted.

"You must've," Briana snorted. "Miko looked seriously peeved."

Jack groaned and buried his hand in his face. This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

Logan had a feeling crawling on his neck. Strange, it hardly happened before. He never felt like this since—

Logan shook his head. No, he swore to never bring those memories up. And to his luck, Arcee arrived in time. He saw Miko hop off of her so she could transform.

"Miko?"

"Hey," Miko answered bluntly as she marched out into the hallway.

Ratchet sighed. "Alright, what happened?"

"Young adult courting rituals," Arcee reported.

"What?" Ratchet was shocked.

"Not the personal kind," Arcee reprimanded.

"Oh," Ratchet said, sounding relieved. He paused and turned to Arcee with a frown.

"It involves Sierra and Jack," Arcee shrugged.

Logan smirked.

"Nice," Ratchet grumbled as he turned away.

"And I'd be cautious around Briana for the night," Arcee informed him.

Ratchet was confused. "Why?"

"A girl insulted the kids pretty badly," Arcee said.

A familiar Challenger pulled into base. Four teens got out of the car before Cliffjumper transformed.

"Ratchet," Sam's voice called out as he hopped into the room with one foot in hands. "I don't see that stupid thing you were—whoa, what's with the red face?"

Briana looked down. "Couldn't stay out of people's business, you know me," she whispered.

"Um, some girl was badmouthing about us and then a verbal fight ensued about dads," Adam explained, rubbing the back of his head.

"What did you tell her?" Optimus asked worriedly.

"Nothing," Briana answered defensively. "I didn't say anything."

"You must have said _something_!" Ratchet nearly shouted. "I mean, you couldn't have just stood there. Didn't she even ask you anything about him?"

Briana laughed. "Yeah, because that's what freaks like her ask."

"She didn't give anything away," Jack snapped. "She couldn't just go saying 'Oh, we're living with a bunch of robots that transform into either vehicles, and we're each a child of one or two of the Avengers.' It was just a stupid show girls like Hayley likes to put on to make her victims feel bad about themselves. For all we know, extraterrestrials would've been the last thing on her mind."

He felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to have blue meet brown. "That still wasn't the best way to handle the situation," Sam said.

"And Miko's mad because I agreed to escort Sierra to some party you guys are throwing," Jack added miserably.

"So, that is why she is mad," Optimus said.

Logan sighed. "I'll go talk to her." He turned on his heel and left.

Jack bowed his head. "I don't know what got into her."

"I can see why, but it doesn't mean anything," Sam assured him. "Ever since you kids got to know us and the Autobots more she has been lonely. Well, I'm sure she still has you guys and Bulkhead, but she needed to be around kids that can understand her, that are like her in a way."

"I didn't know what else to do," Jack grumbled. "The main problem was probably that we've been friends since we were kids."

Optimus frowned, not pleased about this. "Jack," he spoke at last, "who's butt do I kick?"

Jack glanced up at him in surprise.

"Did he just ask who's butt he should kick?" Raf asked.

"I love this guy," Adam roared with laughter.

* * *

Miko had never felt so stupid in her entire life. She paced angrily for a while, kicked a box, then threw herself on a bench to draw a little.

What were they all thinking? Sierra and Jack barely knew each other at the moment, and they didn't even seem terribly bothered by it all. She at least knew him longer than that redhead did. Stupid Autobots, stupid Avengers, and more to the point, stupid Jack for _agreeing_ to be Sierra's escort like that. She would have been better off alone.

Except she wouldn't have been. This was her childhood friend they were talking about, but there was nothing left worth saying for. She couldn't imagine herself being his girlfriend or him being her boyfriend, even if that brother-sister relationship could go to being friends to being more than that. Like it or not, it was the only thing she would have left.

She nearly jumped when she heard a knocking on his door.

"Miko, may I come in?"

Only Logan could sound so calm while sounding gruff, if you also included the Hulk and Thor. She wanted to ignore him, but found it more rude. Plus, she didn't want to see him bust down the door. She stomped towards the door and swung it open. She went back to moping over to her corner as soon as Logan stepped over the threshold. The mutant simply sat down on the edge of the bench. Deciding to ignore him, she just went back to drawing. Apparently she found herself done with the picture and decided to turn the page. Logan picked that moment to put his hand over the paper.

"Would it kill you look at me?"

"Why?"

"Because I'm talking to you, and it shows respect."

Miko lifted her head up and met her father's gaze.

"I don't know what happened today," Logan said, "but it would help me understand why you reacted to Jack's agreement with Sierra if nothing's going on between them."

"I'm just sick of being the one who ends up alone, okay?" Miko finally admitted. "You guys and the Autobots were always on a mission, Jack and Adam are practically like brothers, Raf's busy with Bumblebee, and everyone else is doing what they do best. I just hate having to babysit either myself or by someone else."

Logan stared at her. "What about Victor and the twins?"

"They're not the same," Miko whispered.

Logan looked thoughtful then placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It sucks to be alone," he started. "I know how it feels. But it ain't easy. There will always be something you don't know. I promise that even they will make a greater effort to include you, but you gotta be patient."

"At least you had more people coming to you, not for you," the girl countered.

"You will as well," Logan reminded her. "You became important to all of the people who matter to you since the day you were born. It may not be a birthright chosen for you, but it's a decision for you to carve your own path in life."

"It wouldn't hurt if people actually treated me like an equal," Miko grumbled.

"That's part of growing up, kiddo. In this case, it means being patient and learning as you go along. It wouldn't even kill you to listen to what you're told to."

Miko bit her lip.

"Another thing is telling people how you feel. I'm not sure you understand the impact your actions have on us, but they hurt."

_That_ sounded more like the lecture she'd been waiting for. Logan was right. Miko had to admit that what she did earlier was stupid.

"Maybe I should go to Jack and tell him how I feel."

"That would do it," Logan said. "And if it makes you feel better, I am not closely familiar with the Avengers or the Autobots. I was present at one of the later attacks, the one that almost claimed Ogata. That was where I met your mother."

"It's kind of hard to picture you as a rookie," Miko admitted, then another thought occurred to her. "Wait, so are you actually, like...younger than Steve?"

"No." Logan couldn't keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"But you just said—"

"Jack's dad is _not_ older than me."

Miko laughed at this, and it occurred to her father that it was the first time he'd heard her laugh. The tension that had been in the room moments before appeared to have vaporized.

"You know, you're pretty good at this..." She waved a hand between the two of them to indicate the talk.

Logan smirked and leaned forward as if he was about to tell her a secret and lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone you said that."

* * *

Phyla stared at a datapad, fascinated by the scripture. "'And it was written in the Covenant of Primus that when forty-seven spheres aligned, a perpetual conflict will culminate a world holding an untold chaos, and the weak shall perish in the shadow of a rising darkness,'" she read.

"What the heck does that mean?" Vince asked.

"It means it's the end of the world for the unfortunate planet," Roadbuster said.

Vince blinked at him. "Right." He picked up a box and went to take it through the bridge. After the incident at the cave, Raf had asked about the equipment at the silo. Calling for help, the Autobots had returned to collect them before NEST could even get their hands on it.

"Why are you even reading it?" Ratchet asked.

"I find your history to being quite dark, yet fascinating," Phyla stated, looking up at him.

Jack didn't bother to take part in the conversation. Instead he looked at the first picture on a website.

"Pass…Uh-uh...Kid in a costume," Jack sighed.

"Jeez, this is getting old, don't you thing?" Adam asked, looking at Jack.

"Oh, hold!" Jack said after the fifth picture.

Victor and the twins had entered the room as soon as he said that. Curious, Victor walked over and peeked down. There was a picture of Bumblebee.

"The camera sure loves Bee," Jack sighed.

"What can you do?" Miko asked, grinning. "When you're a superstar, you're paparazzi bait."

"Wait," Ratchet said from behind. "Is that Bumblebee?"

"On a conspiracy website, where users post evidence of close encounters," Raf said.

"I've got this," Victor said, reaching over and messing with the laptop. "Just scrub it here...and instead place it with..."

A animated cat appeared on the screen.

"Mars cat says: 'Take me to your feeder'," the cat said.

"HA!" Ratchet laughed.

"Ratchet actually laughed?" Adam asked, confirming Jack's suspicion.

The young boy looked around at the other Autobots that were present. All of them were stifling laughs…except one.

"Optimus, want to see something funny?" Wanda asked.

"No," Optimus answered as he left the room.

The kids gaped at him.

"Don't take it personally," Rialna said. "It's just that sometimes Primes are built that way."

"Never seen Optimus laugh, cry or lose his cool," Bulkhead added.

"Though we did see him drunk once," Cliffjumper mumbled under his breath.

"While Optimus certainly keeps his emotions in check," Ratchet said, "I've known him far longer than any of you have. And he _was_ different before he was made a Prime."

"Optimus wasn't always a Prime?" Adam asked.

"On Cybertron, one isn't born into greatness, rather one must earn it," Rialna said.

"So…" Pietro cut in, "different how? We talkin' Party Animal?"

"No, no," Ratchet corrected, "Optimus was more like…Jack."

"What?" Jack stuttered. "I'm nothing like…"

Suddenly, a beeping sound echoed throughout the base.

"Decepticons!" Pietro cried as he, his sister, and Victor took up defense.

"Paranoia much?" Adam whispered.

Ratchet rushed over to the terminal, nearly tripping on his feet. He groaned out loud and ignored Pietro's snickers at his expense as he continued onward and answered the call. "What!" Ratchet barked out and inwardly cringed at his own tone.

"_Hey Ratchet, good to hear from you too,_" a familiar voice answered.

"Coulson!" The boy's name was called by almost every kid throughout the room in warm or excited tones.

"Howdy, Coulson," Steve said as he and Rhodey set a box down.

_"Hope I'm not interrupting anything,"_ he said.

"Not at all," Steve said, shaking his head. "Just collecting items from an old operative base. Something up?"

_"Possibly,"_ Coulson said. _"I've got my team investigating some unusual activity going on around Europe."_

"How unusual are we talking about?" Victor asked.

_"Important shipments disappearing, usually technology and such,"_ Coulson stated. _"Nothing really dangerous, but it's expensive stuff."_

"Want us to help look into it?" Rhodey asked.

_"This is a bit small scale for the Avengers' pay grade,"_ Coulson said.

"Since when did they get paid?" Adam asked.

"Hey, Coulson," Raf asked. "Are you coming by today?"

_"I wish I could,"_ Phil said. _"But I have other duties to attend to."_

Raf nodded. "I see."

_"But we'll bring you back a souvenir."_

Raf's face lit up. "Gee, thanks." The screen went blank, the connection ended.

"I am not going to get use to Coulson being back from the dead for a while," Ratchet huffed.

"So, what got you to get use to Smokescreen being here?" Adam asked, rewarded with a groan.

"Out of curiosity, when and how did he die?" Jack asked.

* * *

"This guy is heavy," Wheeljack grunted as he helped Roadbuster pick up the pod that contained Underbite.

"Just be glad we got one of these," Roadbuster groaned as they set it on a cart.

Bumblebee warbled something under his breath.

"I don't know where everyone else is," Roadbuster said. "They're all in the back room from my knowledge."

Thor helped guide a box on a wheel board over to the doorway. In spite of this going more smoothly, there was more stuff here than when the Autobots had moved in. The missions they had been on was quite a mystery to him.

The thunder god looked up and casually noticed the towering Prime who looked thoughtful. In fact Optimus was more than thoughtful; he was distracted that he halted carrying a few cargo.

"Optimus, is something the matter?"

"Uh…"Optimus turned to him with a preoccupied visage. Thor noted something else on his faceplates. "No, I am merely contemplating."

"Forgive the lack of faith, but I have seen that expression many times beforehand," Thor frowned. "And I know that means something is wrong, isn't there?"

Optimus sighed and began to mutter something when, without warning, he gave out a painful grunt and fell on his knees.

"Optimus!" every occupant in the room came running to their leader, whose spark was aching terribly.

"Ratchet, we need you down here!" Roadbuster reported over the comm. unit.

"Prime, you alright?" Wheeljack helped him get up.

"No, none of us will be," Optimus groaned. "Inform the others to abort the mission and retreat back to the base, at once. It's coming."

"What is?" Roadbuster asked.

* * *

"Brains, I'm scared!" Wheelie wailed. "What's going on?"

"I'm trying to figure it out!" Brains barked, trying to calculate what was going on at the terminal.

"_Anyone that's at the terminal, we need a bridge!"_ Steve shouted.

"Coming, coming!" Brains ran to the lever and pulled it down. The crew came rushing through, Ratchet and Bulkhead supporting Optimus.

"Easy, Optimus," Ratchet said. "Take it easy on yourself."

Arcee came roaring in with Natasha on the seat. The assassin jumped off to let the two-wheeler transform.

"What's going on?" Natasha asked.

"I want anyone under the age of twenty to get out of here and up to the first floor now," Ratchet requested.

"Um, guys?" Victor said, pointing at the portal. They turned to it, watching electrical bolts dance around the open vortex.

"Is it suppose to do that?" Cliffjumper asked.

Rialna shoved him to the side and ran for the controls. She checked the controls, even trying to shut it down. "There's something wrong with this!"

"It's gonna blow!" Raf shouted.

"Take cover!" Steve yelled as they ran into different directions.

The force of the explosion threw them forward several feet and Jack landed face down in the ground, then slid forward, tearing at his pants and jacket.

Sparks flew off of the tunnel, the terminal, and the monitors; but all of them died before hitting the ground. The lights flickered, trying to create a light for them to see in. Some of them were injured in the incident.

Jack sat up with a killer headache. He clutched his head, gritting his teeth as he touched a bruised area. He heard someone coughing from nearby. He heard someone gasp.

"What?" someone else asked. Jack craned his neck to get a look to see what they were seeing. He stiffened.

Scrap!

The smoke cleared away, but a figure stood before them all. There was a dark, menacing ambiance that surrounded him. He was much taller than even Optimus! There was no words to describe him other than dark colored, devilish looking. If there was one person who made Megatron himself look like a nice guy, Jack had finally found someone who's presence made him tremble.

"It cannot be," Ratchet whispered.

"But…but that's not possible," Smokescreen said.

"But it is," the stranger said, retracting the mask from over his faceplates. "At long last—Megatronus stands triumphant!"

**Well, I did it. I have officially brought in one of the first Thirteen Primes into the present. Note that I have taken is design from the 2015 cartoon, but I based him off of the Megatronus from the Covenant of the Primes. Yeah, while I agree that he's the Judas of the Primes, I always prefer the tragic characters. It could make more sense as to why the Fallen became who he was and the reason he killed Solus, the one he declared his love to. And wait until he meets…**

**I said too much. Have fun now, R&amp;R!**


	7. Facing Certain Evil

7\. Facing Certain Evil

"Oh boy," Sierra breathed.

"Megatronus, what are you doing here on Earth?" Optimus demanded.

Megatronus turned to him. "The Last of the Primes. Hmm, I thought you would be taller than that."

"Yo, Megsie, where did you score the upgrades?" Rhodey shouted.

"Rhodes, that is not the Decepticon leader," Ratchet said. "Yes, that well may be Megatron's names, but this is _not_ him."

"Wait, what?" Rhodey asked.

June motioned for Jack to get the others out of there. He slowly crawled over to Raf and hoisted him up before they made it to Miko.

"I will ask you this once more, Megatronus: Why have you come to Earth?" Optimus repeated.

Megatronus hesitated before he aimed his blaster and fired. Every kid panicked and ran out of the room to get out of the chaos. Jack had to pick up Miko to get out there before he shut the door and they took off.

Bruce ducked behind a crate with Wheelie and Brains as the fight started. Roadbuster and Arcee jumped to the side after delivering a few blows, giving June an opening. It wasn't good enough. Megatronus was quick to return two shots, having June to duck as Natasha shot at him. Bulkhead charged forward and tackled Megatronus, only to find himself crashing into Ratchet and Rialna. When the ancient Prime turned around, something flashed and hit him hard in the face, forcing him to stumble back. Steve had caught his shield in time before Wheeljack used his swords to slice his right servo's armor and burn its circuitry, respectively.

Megatronus slapped Wheeljack away and took a few steps back, analyzing his arm. After a system diagnosis, he scowled. He was mad.

"We're gonna have to take it out," Tony said from his hiding place with Rhodey and Sam. "You can seriously hurt someone with that gun of yours."

"That is the idea, Earthling," Megatronus replied, taking another shot. The small group of humans quickly scattered to avoid the shot.

Arcee had managed to sneak behind him and jump onto him, wrapping her legs around his neck. The ancient Prime growled, failing to hear the warbled battle cry as Bumblebee delivered an uppercut. He staggered back, noticing they were surrounding him.

All but one.

The blue and red titan was just standing by, optics wide open. Megatronus smirked, now knowing that his theory was correct.

Clint decided to take the opportunity and fired an arrow at him. Megatronus leaned to the left, making it hit Smokescreen and Rialna. They crashed into Bumblebee, flying into the tunnel. Roadbuster and Wheeljack came forward. The Prime grabbed the sniper and threw him into the Wrecker. As Arcee came up to him, he grabbed her and held her up so no one would attack. Then he ran forward.

"Wait!" Bruce shouted.

It had been too late as Megatronus threw Arcee and held a grasp of Optimus's head. The younger Prime grunted as Megatronus dug his clawed fingertips into his helm.

"Let him go!" Cliffjumper shouted as he came forward.

It had been too late to react. A purple glow emitted from beneath Megatronus' hand. Optimus had no time to cry out in pain. He felt none coming. He was so _numb_ that he could _not_ react at all. Just as the light seem so bright, a concussive force knocked the humans out and sent each Autobot sliding back.

Roadbuster had hit the wall, feeling the concrete collide with his face. Cliffjumper had slid backwards. Smokescreen had to take hold of Rialna as they felt the force hit them. As they exit the tunnel their optics widened.

"By the Primes," Ratchet breathed.

The humans that had regained conciousness found a new figure kneeling beside Optimus. He wasn't bulky like the other male Autobots. He was slim, lacking armor, and dark in color. To their surprise, there really was no face. Just a light the engulfed it and split the middle of his chest. They light engulfed the palms of his hands and highlighted his body.

"M-Megatronus?" he spoke in a young, light voice. "W-where am I?"

Megatronus took his hand and helped stand him up. "Do you not remember, dear brother?"

"Optimus Prime…is Ultimus reincarnated?" Smokescreen whispered.

Ultimus leaned over to look past Megatronus. He saw the bewildered looks on the strangers' faces. "Megatronus, who are they?"

Megatronus looked behind him to gaze at them. "No one of our concern."

"You fiend!" Thor shouted.

Megatronus aimed and fired at the entire team once more. Then he quickly transformed and kept firing. "Go, brother! I will cover you!"

Ultimus' optics glazed over at the inhabitants. The yellow and black one was the only one gazing at him with wide and sad optics. Using his divine powers given, the youngling soon found himself in front of the thirteenth ancient. Bumblebee was terrified, wondering what he was going to do.

"Rest," Ultimus whispered, having knocked out Bumblebee somehow. He gathered the scout in his arms and opened a portal. "Come, Megatronus," he commanded before going through. The Fallen had transformed and quickly took leave before the portal closed.

"Bumblebee!" Peter shouted, petrified that his son's guardian had been kidnapped.

"Optimus? Optimus, speak to me!" Ratchet shouted, shaking him. "Optimus, respond!"

Arcee rushed over, but Ratchet batted her away. "Don't come closer. He could be seriously damaged."

"He _is_ seriously damaged," Arcee pointed out. "Look at him! He's got the scars to prove it."

"She—she's right," Smokescreen said. "I mean...Optimus..."

"You think the chief'll be okay?" Wheeljack asked.

"Let's hope so," was all Ratchet could say.

"No, he won't."

Everyone turned to Roadbuster.

"If the kid is right with what he said about Optimus and Ultimus, then we surely are going to face the darkest hour we will ever have."

* * *

Darkness. All around him was darkness.

Then he felt a presence. This vast, mighty, terrifying presence was the darkness itself!

"Megatron…Megatron…Megatron!"

The Decepticon warlord opened his optics. He was floating in a void, a dark and sinister void. But he was more concerned about what he saw _before_ him.

"Unicron? How is this possible? Why am I here?"

"You are speaking to me because my life-blood flows through you," Unicron answered.

"Dark energon," Megatron realized.

"It binds you to my anti-spark," Unicron explained.

"The Thirteen cast you out into the dark void of space," Megatron recalled. "No one knew of your exact location, rendering you to sleep. So, how is it you are speaking to me?"

"The foolish Primes redered only my material form," Unicron explained. "My _energy_ form was roused when I sensed one of the Thirteen land on the planet and another appear from the afterlife."

"One of the remaining Thirteen? How is that possible? I thought all of them had ceased to exist."

"I now wish to finish what I have begun eons ago," Unicron said. "But for that, I require a soldier of darkness."

"Am I to live free?" Megatron asked.

"Only to serve me," Unicron boomed.

* * *

Everyone was waiting. Optimus' condition was still unknown and that worried them. Finally, Ratchet came out of the room with a tired look. He looked up to find everyone looking at him curiously. They wanted to know.

"So, how is he?" Clint asked.

"Well, the process is still unclear. We're gonna have to give some energon shots for him," Ratchet answered

Hearing that, Smokescreen spoke, "W-wait. Is Optimus dying?"

"No, no, no," Ratchet quickly said. "He's going to be fine.

"Wouldn't it be easier if you tried to find out if he can survive like doctors do?" June asked.

"It's not that easy," Rialna told her. "It could be if we had some of our equipment."

"Forget about that," Peter piped. "What about Bumblebee?"

"Guys?" Cliffjumper said. "Why are we missing three Avengers?"

Everyone had realized the scout was missing.

"They took him too?" Brains shouted.

"How rude!" Wheelie exclamied aloud.

The lights flickered off. Almost everyone screamed. Only the monitors came online.

"What happened?" Steve exclaimed.

"You think you can still fix that?" Wheeljack asked.

"Are you kidding?" Bulkhead laughed. "I've still got what it takes to bring a building down." Then he added quickly, "Which I haven't done on Earth yet."

That rose Ratchet's suspicions. "Bulkhead, what did you do?"

"Nothing," Bulkhead squawked.

"Brains, I'm too young to die!" Wheelie howled.

"Get off of me!" Brains shouted as he tried to push him off.

"Fortunately, all communications are still online, so we should be able to contact Fury," Ratchet said.

"Can you do it then?" Rhodey asked.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" Ratchet spat.

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Scott asked.

"We'll get there when we get there!" Rocket snapped.

"Are you gonna be a child or are you gonna find a place to land?" Gamora asked for some reason.

"Why can't I do both?" Quill asked like a child.

The alarms went off. Scott yelped and jumped.

"What's happening?" Hope asked.

"Who's tailing us?" Rocket asked, ignoring her question, sort of answering it for her.

The side of the ship shook, and the _Milano_ started to fall.

"I am Groot!" Groot shouted as the ship started to spin.

"Mayday! Mayday!" Quill shouted. "We're going to crash!"

The ship went spiraling towards the ground, spinning uncontrollably as it did so. They held on as tightly as they could until the impact breached them and the jet skidded to a stop. They opened the hatch and ran out.

"We've got to get back up there," Gamora said.

Scott looked up. "Incoming!" They turned and ran to get clear of a huge shape that landed, creating a crater in the ground where they had once been. And the sight of it…

"Oh boy," Gamora breathed.

He was glorious, they would give him that. He was silvery and rock brown, had violet optics. He was obviously not a very nice guy by design, except none of the robots they have encountered were equiped with gladiator armor, not like the one this creation was sporting. He was, however, easily recognized by three humans; one by stories and two personally.

"Creatures of the galaxy," Megatron growled. "Prepare to be obliterated!"

**Consider this as a special treat. Happy Martin Luther King Day!**


	8. A Life Almost Extinguished

**A very lot of people have done this over on DeviantArt. Okay, a few have, but I still wanted to do it myself I must as well do the same—the cast to the Thirteen Primes:**

**Prima- Patrick Stewart**

**Vector Prime- Richard Newman (No one will EVER replace Newman as VP IMO)**

**Alpha Trion- George Takai**

**Solus Prime- Angelina Jolie (I wanted a woman with a voice that wasn't so girly, and she was the only one that came up)**

**Micronus Prime- Adrian Pasdar**

**Alchemist Prime- Craig Ferguson**

**Nexus Prime- Liam Neeson**

**Onyx Prime- Keith David (For a good reason and one reason only: GARGOYLES!)**

**Amalgamous Prime- Will Friedle**

**Quintus Prime- Troy Baker**

**Liege Maximo- Tom Hiddleston (Sorry, couldn't resist)**

**Megatronus- David Kaye (with the deep voice)**

**Thirteen- Hayden Christiansen**

**Now, let us continue on with our story, shall we?**

8\. A Life Almost Extinguished

"Megatron?" Hank said.

Megatron noticed the older man. He seemed familiar, the old man. Looking between the other two humans it suddenly clicked in his processor. "Ant-Man?" Megatron cackled. "Such an ironic moment! That after years when you and your comrades forced me off of the planet, I come back to a helpless man."

"Um, you know this guy?" Rocket squeaked.

"What do you want?" Hope demanded, ignoring his question.

"Funny you should ask. I'm here to exterminate you all and destroy the two remaining Primes."

The team went silent immediately. They had heard death threats coming from many people more times than anyone else, but they had never heard someone so serious talking about annihilation.

"I bet you're wondering why. You see, on my planet, there was a great battle between the Thirteen Primes and Unicron, the Chaos Bringer. That battle had sent him into sleep. Now it's time for him to be awaken again to cleanse the Autobots of the Primes' path, and I have been evolved to do just that. I wondered, how should I start the destruction? Well, I tried to snuff you all before, but I was too weak. Now I am stronger."

"Yeah, you look pretty fearsome," Scott nodded.

"Now, wait a minute," Hank said. "You said it's time for Unicron to awaken? So, does this mean you work for him now? I thought the mighty Megatron never worked for anyone."

"Ah, yes. I never do take orders from anyone, only to _give_ them. I have always deemed myself worthy to serve no one, but really there's nothing stronger than the might of Unicron. So I thought to myself, what am I really doing? So I looked through the history of this wretched planet of yours and found every natural disaster, some few ones, were not so natural as we thought of it to be. This planet has been chosen for a reason not to exist in the first place. And now it is the day you all have fantasized, made popular in media as arrived—your doomsday!"

Hank and Hope took several steps back. The warlord must have been dropped on his head too many times to think things he never thought of before. Hope reached into the pocket of her suit and grabbed hold of a squared object inside of it. She pressed a button.

"I am not the same Megatron you knew those years ago. And I am not so considerate like you think I was once before. My real motivation was that freedom should be freed from all living creatuers."

"You are not making any sense," Drax commented.

"Then allow me to demonstrate," Megatron sneered, aiming his cannon at them.

"Put the cannon down." Megatron turned around to see a few familiar faces. "You're gonna get people hurt with that thing," Iron Man said.

"If I have to," Megatron taunted.

"No one needs to be broken," Sam stated.

"Then you must not have broken a bone," Megatron sneered.

"He beat me by one second," Tony whispered to Sam.

The adults were focused on Megatron. The Autobots were also focused on the people he was threatening to terminate. The looks on their faces were hilarious.

"Uh, you're seeing what I'm seeing, right?" Bulkhead asked.

"I think so," Arcee said slowly.

"Forget that," Smokescreen said. "I wanna know where Buckethead here won the upgrades."

"Will you quit calling me that?" Megatron shouted. "I have no intentions of living up to such a nickname, and I obtained this new form through the power of Unicron."

The Autobots and the aliens cringed at the name. The humans were completely clueless. Who exactly was Unicron, and why did they cower at the name? Was he just as dangerous as the Decepticons and Megatron? Tony actually found the name funny.

"What's it gonna do? Stab us with its horn and gallop into the sunset?"

Okay, maybe a few people found it funny, but others either were offended or else didn't get the joke. Fortunately, Smokescreen did.

"He probably thinks we said unicorn," the trooper stated.

Bulkhead and Arcee were confused.

"Pretty white horse with a single shiny horn growing from the forehead," Smokescreen demonstrated. "Which also has the ability to heal. Prances around all sparkly."

Rocky just facepalmed himself.

"I am Groot."

"Uni_cron_," Arcee emphasized. "The embodiement of chaos and opposite of Primus, our creator."

"Indeed," Megatron agreed. "And he had failed to see the extermination thorough." A violet glow emitted from his clawed hands and two massived spiked blasters formed around them. He began to shoot at them, forcing them to fight back.

* * *

"I'm bored," Miko groaned.

"My head hurts," Vince grumbled.

"That's your brain trying to comprehend its own stupidity," Adam said.

"I wonder if we can go out now," Raf wondered.

"We should wait until one of them comes and lets us know," Jack advised.

"So not fair," Miko sighed.

"Well, I know how to pass our time," Briana said mischievously as she leaned over the couch before shouting, "Helium!"

Phyla blinked. "I don't get it."

"Don't try it," Victor said.

"C'mon, Victor," Miko said, waving the bloated balloon at him. "I know you want to."

"Well, just this one time," he said, taking the balloon.

"Come on, just suck a little in," Raf said, holding one up to the aliens.

Warlock hesitated before he took the balloon and sucked a little bit of it in.

"Well?" Briana asked, trying hard not to laugh.

"I still don't get it," Warlock said. He gasped and covered his mouth when a high-pitched voice replaced his voice. He glared at the kids, who either were laughing or else trying hard not to. "What did you do to my voice?"

"Warlock, it's helium," Victor laughed. "It's suppose to do that."

"It's very undignified in my opinion," Wanda stated.

"Oh, what do you know?" Chloe scoffed. "You're the definition of not being fun."

Victor had sucked a little in before looking at the seeker. "See?" he said, his voice sounding weird. "I told you."

"I'll leave before things get out of control," Sierra said as she left.

The door clicked open and Logan poked his head in. "You rugrats can come out now."

"Yes!" Miko cheered as she rushed out of the room.

"Well, look at her go," Adam mused as they left the room.

"What do you mean backup?!" Ratchet demanded. "You're fighting against Megatron. Aren't you all enough?"

"_Doc, we got three civilians__—__well, sort of civilians—and a few aliens that came from space. And Buckethead claimed to have scored an upgrade from Unicron,"_ Bulkhead reported.

The room had become silent. Jack felt shivers run along his spine as he looked around the room nervously. Why was he feeling so frightened all of the sudden?

"Uh, you're joking right?" Wheeljack asked.

"_I wish,_" Bulkhead replied.

"Alright," Ratchet sighed. "I'm sending backup right now." He set in the coordinates and pulled the lever down.

"No matter how many times I see it, it still blows my mind," Jack commented.

"I remember my first time going through one of those," Victor sighed. "It was amazing." He looked around. "Where's Miko?"

Jack looked around to find her gone. "Miko?"

"Um, guys?" Raf whispered, pointing at the opening vortex. They noticed that Miko had run after them.

"She's not going to learn, will she?" Jack growled. "Adam, I need your help."

Adam nodded and waited until the entire team left before they made a run for it. They managed to get through the vortex before it could close on them.

"Where's Miko?" Adam wondered.

Jack looked around. Not only was Megatron was ther with a whole new look, but now he had the other Decepticons there to help back him up. "This was a huge mistake!"

"You think?" Adam spat out. Then his face lit up and he pointed to the other side. "Over there."

Jack looked over and saw Miko crawl to an elderly man hiding behind a boulder. He had to do a double take when he realized there where three other humans with him, a woman with green skin in leather, a steroid and bald version of Thor that didn't have a shirt on and had intricate red tattoos. And was that a raccoon and a walking tree?

"Uh, you're seeing what I'm seeing, right?" Adam asked.

"Uh-huh," Jack nodded.

Miko tapped on one of their shoulders, forcing him to yelp and they drew their weapons out. Miko shrieked and jumped back, swearing that she came in peace and she was going to help get them out.

"She ran just to help them?" Jack asked, exasperated. "She couldn't have called for a bridge then?"

"Well, she would need to be out here in order to do that," Adam pointed out. He chuckled and then stopped as Jack glared at him. A section of the battlefield exploded near them that forced them to take cover.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Adam asked, quaking behind their boulder.

"Um, well, let's help Miko and then call for a bridge," Jack suggested before he peeked over the boulder. There was hardly a place to crawl safely through, that is, until Cliffjumper shot at two Vehicons and ran at another one. "Go!"

The boys jumped from behind the boulder and made a mad dash towards the group. They ducked and covered their heads so they wouldn't get hurt and get noticed.

"We're almost there," Jack panted.

"Look out!" Someone had tackled them both as something shot over their heads. Jack rolled to the side and looked up to find the two armies still fighting.

"Come on!" the green skinned woman ordered as she hauled him to his feet and pushed them to the others.

"What were you kids thinking?" the elderly man shouted as they joined them.

"Me? Ask her that!" Jack exclaimed, glaring at Miko.

"I thought maybe they would need help," Miko responded.

"You could have stayed and let them handle this," Jack barked.

"Well, at least she made use of herself," Adam pointed out modestly. He yelped when Jack punched his shoulder. "Ow, man!"

"Well, he wasn't lying," the man in the red and black suit joked.

"Jack, can we keep them?" Miko pleaded.

"Uh…" The sudden question came at him quickly.

"Hold on now. I think we should start at the beginning before we get into—" Adam had been caught off by a barrage of shots that were near them.

"Or we can skip the introductions and make a run for it," the raccoon suggested.

"The hill," the woman in yellow and black said before they all made a run for it. Jack had made it up the slope when he heard Miko let out a painful cry. He skid to a stop and turned to see that the girl had twisted her ankle, and was crawling away from Knock Out, who'd been trying to follow them.

"Well, looks like one fleshy is going to go squish today," the doctor said with glee.

"Hey you!" The woman in yellow shrunk and flew up to him as fast as she could. Once she was close to him, she fired a bio-electric sting at his optic.

"YEOW!" Knockout screeched, clutching his optics with a clawed servo.

Jack ran forward as the medic stumbled back and helped Miko up, supporting her with his shoulder. "Come on, move it!" he ordered.

"I'm trying Jack," she said with worry, "But I think I broke my ankle!"

"Then this just got all the easier!" Knockout snarled.

"Oh, no you don't!" The man with unruly hair pulled out a gun and fired at the medic. The raccoon climbed onto the rock and fired as well.

"Ratchet, we request a bridge!" Adam shouted in his phone.

"_Adam? What the pit are you doing out there?"_ Ratchet inquired.

"That doesn't matter right now!" Adam hollered. "We need a bridge NOW!"

"You know them?"

Adam turned suspiciously at the older man. "How do you know them?"

A loud gunshout echoed throughout the field, followed by a chilling bloodcurling scream, catching the attention of the bots, soldiers and Decepticons, who all looked in time to see Jack's form tumbling backwards, struck in the back.

"Jack!" June screamed as her son stopped. She was held back by Rhodey. "Let me go! I need to get to him!"

"Ah, it seems I swat a few pests, only for a bug to be squatched," Megatron taunted.

"You will _not_ get away with this!" Bulkhead roared.

"Oh, I believe we just did," Megatron sneered as a vortex opened and he ran through with his entire army behind him.

June broke free from Rhodey and rushed to her son. Steve had gotten to him first. He knelt down and took Jack into his arms. Jack looked up into his eyes, seeing how broken and defeated his old man looked. He smiled weakly as he placed a hand on his shoulder before passing out.

"Will the boy live?" the shirtless man asked.

The human woman knelt down and analyzed the wound. "He'll live, but we need to treat this right away."

The femme growled, her servos clenched. "Why did you follow us?" she demanded angrily, glaring to where Miko was at. Her optics grew wide and she looked around. "Miko?"

"Miko!" Logan shouted. "MIKO!"

"Where's Adam?" Sam demanded.

* * *

"Miko!"

Adam swore to himself and Miko all at once as he ran into the woods. He promised himself that he was not going to let Miko be alone until he got her back to the base. The blow to Jack must have taken a toll on her, and she had _deserved_ it. Yes, it sounded mean because Jack had gotten hurt, but she had no right to follow them. Right now, his top priority was to find her and keep her safe.

"Miko!" he shouted, wandering around aimlessly seraching for her.

He growled and was about to call for her again when he heard the faint sound of crying. He looked over his shoulder and trained his ear. Quickly he summoned a bird passing by and told it to locate Miko. It took off and he followed it. Once he saw the halfling sitting on the rocks with tears flowing down her cheeks he thanked the bird and dismissed it.

"Miko?"

The girl looked up, her eyes watery and bloodshot. "What do you want?" she sobbed. "Haven't you guys yelled at me enough already?"

Adam cursed and came forward. "Miko, I'm not going to yell at you. I just want to talk."

Miko tried to stop herself from crying, but more tears came rushing at her.

"Look, I am not going to defend you when we get back to base," Adam warned her. "You _should_ know by now that you can't be running through the bridge. The team can't just play baby-sitter and soldier at the same time. Stuff like that, it's gonna get you killed. Do you understand me?"

"I promise that after this I will never run after them again," Miko whimpered.

Adam took in a breath. "That's not going to be enough," he said. "You're going to have to swear it. Swear it on your mother's grave. At least until we're all more experienced."

Miko nodded.

"Okay, now let's go." He took a hold of her wrist and pulled her up. "We'll discuss more of this until we find a highway. Or a town with a phone at least."

"How did you find me?" Miko asked as they started to walk. Adam glared at her and she realized his gift. "Oh, you still have that telepathic link with birds, don't you?"

"Yes, I do," Adam groaned, throwing his hands up in the air. "How can you not remember? I used it on multiple occasions. I even used a flock of pigeons to bomb away on those bullies!"

Miko giggled. "You're funny. I can see what Briana likes you now."

Adam haulted. "Brie likes me?"

"Wow, you really don't know what true love is, do you?"

Adam shook his head. "Just, remind me to get at Knock Out the next time we see him. We'll both waste him for what he did to Jack."

Miko nodded, then grinned mischievously. "So, can I call you Briana's lover-boy now?"

"Heeellllll no," Adam drawled out. "I don't think Thor will even allow it. Her mom, maybe."

Miko frowned. "Did she ever mentioned to you what happened to her mom?"

"She passed away from placental abruption," Adam recalled, his eyes growing dark. The thought of someone dying always brought back the memory of how his sister died trying to protect him. Miko remembered how Briana told her the same tale, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I got an idea," she said.

"Oh, great. Miko's gonna try to make this worse," Adam grumbled, grinning afterwards.

"Funny," Miko said. "How about we hitchhike to the road and get someone to take us to Westchester?"

"Why there?" Adam asked.

"Why do you think?"

Adam realized instantly what she was talking about. "Um, uh, are you sure I'll be welcomed there?"

"Why not? We all fought alongside with each other in Asgard, right?"

"Don't remind me."

They stopped once they reached a road. Seeing a sign, Adam quickly checked to see which road they were on. Route 66.

"This road exists?" he squalled in shock. "I thought it was made up!"

Miko took a look herself. "Cool, Route 66! I've always wanted to see if this road ever existed."

Adam shook his head and looked around. He decided to keep going with Miko tailing him.

That was, until a heavy roadside vehicle drove by and blocked their path.

"Hey, what gives?" Miko shouted, waving her fist.

"Um, Miko?" Adam never got the chance to speak as he felt something sting him, knocking him out.

**Well, that took a heavier toll than I thought it would. Cannot wait to get on with this. See ya!**


	9. A Time to Heal

9\. A Time to Heal

Megatronus watched with a scowl as Ultimus carefully set the still unconscious Autobot scout on the ground. The dark warrior wasn't sure why the youngest Prime had taken the scout with. Or better yet, _kidnapped_. He had thought for sure he would plan a way to get off of this planet and find any of the last remaining members of his brethren when Unicron awakened again. Those plans were forced to the side once he saw the yellow transformer in Ultimus' arms.

"I understand why you do not agree with this," Ultimus spoke, as if he had read Megatronus' mind. "Do not forget, it was you who had done the same to me when I went into hypersleep after we defeated the Chaos Bringer."

"Yes, but I did not kidnap you like you had to him," Megatronus corrected.

"I merely wish to heal this scout of mental stress and the loss of his voice box," Ultimus said humbly. "After scanning the room and the occupants of it, I had seen that they lacked the technology and the knowledge to help him. Therefore, brethren, I didn't see a choice to be made."

The oldest of the two hesitated, but he nodded and stepped back.

"Thank you. I had hoped you would understand."

Bruce, Thor, and Logan watched from their hiding place in the woods.

"Well, isn't that a stupid reason to kidnap someone," Logan snorted.

"What do we do?" Bruce asked.

"What anyone else would do," Thor said as he held up Mjolnor. "Help the scout."

"Wait, no," Bruce hissed as he held Thor back. "That's a bad idea. We could end up getting Bumblebee hurt."

"What else can we do, Banner?" Thor asked.

"I don't know, but we'll just have to see what this new guy will do first."

* * *

Steve stood outside of the ER room, a broken look on his face as he watched June tend to Jack's senseless form. He felt like he had failed his own family. He could not help but feel like he had since he left them. This wasn't how he wanted his son to grow up. He wanted him to have a secure future, happy and healthy. Now everything was starting to shatter.

A hand grasped his shoulder. He turned and saw Warlock standing behind him. "They…want you in the command center to talk with the _Milano_ crew."

Steve turned back to he room one last time before following Warlock. He went in where the others have gathered, once again excluding the younger ones. Ratchet had disappeared to check on Optimus. Rialna turned back to their guests. "Let's get down to business."

Natasha was looking at them with caution. "Do any of you speak English?"

Quill smirked. "I'll speak any language you ask me to, babe."

"Back off," Clint snarled, glaring at him.

"Hey, I was just joking." Quill backed with his hands up. He turned to the rest and had to do a double take. "C-Captain America?" The guardians gave him strange looks, but he kept staring.

"Wow, Cap," Peter said. "I didn't know you were known in space as well!"

"Uh, it shouldn't be. Does it?" Steve asked Hank.

"No, but from what I heard from them he's also from Earth," Hank answered.

"Huh?" Cliffjumper piped.

"But…how…" Bulkhead couldn't get the words out of his mouth.

"It's a long story." Peter blushed as all of the strangers stared at him.

"How about we cut to the chase and discuss why you're all here," Arcee suggested.

"Long story short: Hope and I heard Hank was kidnapped by aliens, so we called in the Guardians for help," Scott answered.

"Right after they faked a transmission of a fugitive," Rocket grumbled.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?" Scott said.

"Ah, so it was your ship that had entered Earth's atmosphere," Phyla spoke.

Gamora stared at her. "You have already detected our arrival?" Phyla backed away from her accusational tone.

"To be honest, someone had captured a picture of you and posted it on the internet," Rialna answered.

"Hold on a second," Tony piped up. "Why did these punks kidnap Hank to begin with?"

June slowly came in suddenly with a tired expression. She looked up to find everyone looking at her suddenly. Even Steve wanted to know.

"He'll recover," June answered slowly. "The problem is that…I don't know when he'll wake up." She was on the verge of tears, and Arcee had to guide her to the group.

"He's going to be okay," Arcee assured. "You said so yourself. Just don't get too worked up on it."

June slowly came in suddenly with a tired expression. She looked up to find everyone looking at her suddenly. Even Steve wanted to know.

"He'll recover," June answered slowly. "The problem is that…I don't know when he'll wake up." She was on the verge of tears, and Arcee had to guide her to the group.

"He's going to be okay," Arcee assured. "You said so yourself. Just don't get too worked up on it."

* * *

The younger ones had slipped out of the room and secretly went to the ER room. Chloe hacked into the controls and opened the door to peek inside. She found Jack resting in the middle of the room. She stepped inside to let the others in as well. Raf ran up to Jack's side.

"Jack?" he spoke. "Jack, are you okay?"

"Hi," Sierra whispered as she came up to his side. "How are you feeling? I am so sorry this had to happen."

"Jack." Briana hesitated before speaking, "We brought someone. We weren't sure if it was a good idea, but we figured it would help." She looked to the doorway, and she watched Pietro and Victor push in Bucky. He looked around them for a while.

"Come on," Chloe groaned. "It's not going to kill you to say hi to your old friend's son, will it."

Bucky looked at each and every single kid there before he gulped. He approached Jack and knelt next to him. He hesitated for a moment.

"What's he waiting for?" Briana asked impatiently.

"Um, hey there," Bucky greeted the boy quietly. "I'm not sure if you can hear me, but…" He paused, not knowing how to explain himself. "I'm sure that you were pretty disappointed when you found out who it was that attacked you in the caves. It was more like an old habit kicking in and…" He stopped, wondering where he would go with this. He shook his head. "Whatever. I can't change all of that now. I'll be going."

"That's it?" Bucky turned around to find Raf right behind him. "You're just going to give up? You can't give up on him now."

"What else is he suppose to do?" Vince asked.

"Alright," Victor spoke. "Let's just leave them alone." He grabbed Raf and dragged him out of the room with him. He turned back to the others. "Now."

"Guys?"

The hoarse voice caught their attention. They turned back to find their comrade still lying down, but his eyes slighty open.

"What's wrong?"

"Um, nothing," Sierra answered. "It's nothing now."

"You got that right," Bucky grumbled as he got up. He didn't budge after that. He looked behind him and saw his hand being held by Jack. He held on desperately. It shocked the former assassin, and confused most of the kids.

"Hey, do you know any good war stories?" Jack asked.

"Oh, I wanna hear," Briana said as she took a chair and sat down.

"You guys are hopeless," Sierra scoffed. Then she looked around and noticed every other kid had sat down. "Well, if everyone else is staying for Uncle Bucky's stories…" She pulled out a stool and joined them.

**I am so sorry this chapter is short. I was running out of ideas about what was going to happen, and I felt like I needed to cut it short here. But the next one will be longer, I promise.**

**By the way, there is a voting poll on my profile, asking which one of the kids is your favorite. I was actually surprised someone had already voted when I didn't even announce it yet. Have fun!**


	10. The Sacred Relic

10\. The Sacred Relic

The doors to her room opened. The young warrioress paused in the middle of her push ups and craned her head to find one of the older soldiers come in. "Hey," she greeted as she got up. "What's up?"

"I spoke to Primal," the elder said. "I think we should discuss about the visions I've been having lately. I would actually like to discuss about how you used them—"

"I didn't do anything wrong, if that's what you're saying," the girl spoke. "I just told him what you saw."

"It was foolish, and I do not want it to happen again."

"I don't know why you're upset," the girl said as she turned away.

"Sari—"

"If I had known any better, I'd say that you've been keeping secrets. Maybe something that's very important."

"Sari—"

"You just need to tell at least me the truth—what is it that's got you so worked up?"

Before she could say a word, her opticals turned white. She gasped and threw her head back. Sari knew it meant that she was having a premonition. She rushed up and grasped her shoulders.

"Oracleus, talk to me," Sari pleaded.

"I see something," Oracleus groaned. "I see a man dressed like Liege Maximo…beautiful, dangerous…"

"Don't talk until the visions are over," Sari instructed.

Oracleus nodded before she jerked her head back again. She gave out a painful yelp before she collapsed onto the ground.

"Oracleus!" Sari shouted as she got to her knees.

"No," Oracleus groaned. "It's too terrible…"

"Ora, tell me," Sari pleaded.

"The apocalypse is upon us," Oracleus managed to say. "An ancient evil will rise from its slumber, and the world that is doomed will never be the same after that."

* * *

"Barricade?"

The hunter turned from the computers to find Breakdown coming in with a worried look. "What is it?"

"Doesn't Megatron seem different?"

Barricade frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Doesn't he seem to be a bit iffy?"

"If you mean like a psychotic warmonger, he's been like that since the war began."

"Uh, that's not what I meant. I mean like creepy and blabbering about some coming evil."

"…I do not have the slightest idea what you mean."

"I'm serious! What if he's actually off his rocker? What if he's planning to turn us into his mindless zombies to help conquer the world?"

"Well, it's been the idea since—wait, what now?"

"Yeah, like in those horror movies that Knock Out would see. They would take you and tie you up, and the next thing you know, there's nothing you can do as you're being forced to slaughter a bunch of people!"

"I think you two have been hanging out too much," Barricade commented as he left the room.

"Hey, when's your buddy coming back?"

Barricade frowned. "Good question."

* * *

Jack wasn't sure what it was that roused him from his slumber, but his eyelids peeled themselves open and darted around the room. His sight was still a blur, barely giving him access as to what he was looking at. When his vision did clear, he caught sight of Bucky sitting at his side, fast asleep.

_Must be on guard duty,_ Jack thought as he slowly slipped out of the bed. He winced as he tried to move, gritting his teeth so no one would hear him. As he stood up, Jack glanced over to Bucky. The former assassin was still asleep, not even stirring. Relieved, he quickly slipped out of the room.

He trudged down the hall, making sure no one was out and about. He spent his time wondering if Adam and Miko were okay, hoping they were alright. His mom would have blown a gasket if Miko was still around. And then it would have been hilarious when Steve found out they had temporarily adopted her. He took a right turn and slipped into the elevator.

When the elevator opened up, the boy froze when he saw Roadbuster sitting by the console, cleaning his rifle. Neon blue optics looked up and saw Jack's wide eyes for once.

"Eh, Jack? Shouldn't you be in the infirmary room recovering? You took a good blow yesterday."

"Uh…um…No, I was just wandering the halls."

"Eh, why?"

Jack gazed up at the sniper. He was not use to talking to any of them outside of Arcee for the past eight years. Sure there were times with Cliffjumper, Ratchet, and Optimus; but never to the others. But his curiosity piqued him for the sniper. He had known much about the others, but _never_ from him. His thoughts went back to Bucky for a brief second before returning to reality.

"I…want to ask you a question."

"Just one?"

"What were you like before the war?"

They stared at each other for a while, as Roadbuster's optics dimmed. Jack knew he had hit a rather sensitive spot as the sniper got up and motioned for him to follow. He did, wondering what he was going to show and/or tell him. As they strolled down the hall, it was the first time Jack's memories from the previous day came flooding back at him.

"Is Optimus alright?"

"Still has a beating spark, but no sign of waking up any minute now."

"Where are the others?"

"Those aliens and the humans? Sleeping. Their ship was busted, so Ratchet and a few others are helping repair it. Now, which room is it? Ah, here we are!"

Roadbuster opened a door and Jack couldn't help but stare. While one corner had a stack of energon cubes, the rest of the room had shelves for both humans and Cybertronians. Most of them held relics that were otherworldly and trinkets that made Jack remember the first documentary of when the Avengers were formed. Small jars were filled with a kind of sandy substances on one of the human shelves. He came forward and took one to read the label: _Althelix_.

None of them noticed the pairs of eyes in the doorway.

"I heard shouting earlier," Jack spoke. "And then crying."

"Oh, just a happy reunion between the Pyms and Victor."

Jack glanced over his shoulder as Roadbuster pulled out a box. "Are they family? You know, in the way I am to my mom and dad?"

"In a way, yep." Roadbuster ripped the box open and pulled something out of it. Jack frowned and peered closer at the platelet he held. Upon further inspection, he noticed three gashes in the lime green plate, a strange symbol tattooed on it. It was steely silver, not a rich shade of red or purple. The mouth was hinged open like a viper's, baring sharp canines with narrowed optics.

"What is that?"

"It was the sign of being under Lockdown's command," Roadbuster explained in a painful voice. "I use to serve for him back when I was originally named Crosshairs. I didn't have any real friends back then like I do now, nor anyone to call family except for them. When I did leave him, my only friends then were Arcee and Cliff. It was funny given how feisty she is."

"Who's Lockdown?"

"Let's say he was a rather notorious pursuing officer outside of the law."

There was a small clatter by the doorway and the sound of bodies piling on top of the other one. They turned around and found Raf in the doorway, his large eyes even wider with the twins and Victor flat on the floor, trying to get up.

"Raf…"

"Y-you were a bounty hunter?"

"Suprising, I know. The caste system that was created shunned at me because I had refused to follow their code. I went into hiding, and that's how one of his other followers found me. They took me to him and in no time I was catching bounties from here to there. By my fourth stellar cycle, or year in your case, he was in a command of up to ten followers. He made me his second-in-command by my sixth year. I had been able to bond with one of them easily, telling him how I wanted to go and teach bots at an academy to teach them how to survive and prepare for warfare. But the lad, he knew it was dangerous of me to go back. I was wanted, worthless. He was right, so we stuck together. And then the war came, and _he_ took his life."

Roadbuster's optics darkened, optics narrowed to slits. It was like he was living those memories all over again. June told Jack that it always happened to soldiers that were drafted into the war, always reliving the memories. Some of them took days for them to get past them and back into the real world, others took months or years.

Still, it did not take long for Jack to figure out _who_ he was talking about.

"Megatron knew my profession somehow, knew of _how_ skillful I was, and he offered me a bounty to collect for him. I told him it wasn't up to me to get him a bounty, that it was up to my commander. He tried to bribe me, threaten my life, then he took him and threatened to kill the youngling. I captured the mech, handed him over…and he ordered him executed on the spot."

"That' sick," Wanda said.

"That's Megatron." Roadbuster's fingers were curled tightly around the slab. "But Lockdown didn't care what happened to his followers, so long as he got the hunt of his life. When I told him what had happened, he didn't do anything. He acted like he had never _existed_. It was the same with so many others I soon found out. I couldn't take it anymore. Centuries later, I left him and disappeared, being my own master."

Jack sat there numbly.

"And you didn't tell anyone what was going on?" he heard Victor ask.

"I was young at the time, lad! I didn't know what was happening. I just served myself and captured Decepticons that the Autobots wanted found." Roadbuster smirked. "Then someone came to me, whispered for me to go to Kaon and bring Starscream an Autobot named Arcee. She will be the gateway to a better life for me. And she was."

"Who was it?"

"Cliff."

Jack and Raf gawked at him.

"You're kidding, right?" Pietro asked.

"Nah. I found her, alright. I kept playing the dutiful disciple of Lockdown and dragged her to the seeker. I didn't know Cliff also had planned to be captured as well. I stuck to his plan and I told the jerk that I wouldn't leave until I had not only my prize collected, but to see why they wanted her. It was foolish, considering it was the mad scientist Shockwave they were taken to."

Wanda's face paled at the term. Victor reached down and wrapped his fingers around her hand. The action did not go unnoticed by Jack.

"Then after a while, he used a cortical psychic patch link to see what the value she had. I soon discovered why Cliff said she would be my gateway—she had the coordinates to Earth, to where Optimus and his crew were at. I helped free them once it was over, right after Shockwave left first. We managed to pick up the spacebridge they were building, overloading it right before we came to this planet."

Jack raised a brow. "Seriously?"

"Don't get too excited—"

"Do you realize how stupid it was to overload something like that? You could have gotten killed."

"You should know, considering the blow you took for Miko."

Jack glared at Pietro. "And let her die?"

"Good point."

"Is that why you came here?" Wanda asked. "To start over?"

"Yep, and didn't regret leaving Lockdown or betraying his kind."

"Aren't you afraid that he'll come after you?" Raf asked.

Roadbuster stood up, smirking. "Kid, I've been on this planet since we came here, and I hadn't seen nor heard his name being spoken since…" Roadbuster's optics flickered before he facepalmed himself. "Scrap." He quickly rushed out of the room. The others tried to rush after them. However, the pain in Jack's back decided this was the time to act. He yelled and crashed into a pile of unopened boxes, making a clatter of noises. The others stopped and turned to him.

"Jack!" Raf ran over and came to his side. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Jack groaned as he rubbed his aching back.

Ratchet came in with the Guardians and two others. "What is going on here? Jack, what are you doing out of bed?"

Before Jack could defend himself, one of the boxes started to glow. A small, triangular piece of metal glowing white and cyan blue started to levitate into the air. The Autobots gasped and took a step back.

"Oh, shiny!" Pietro mused, only to be elbowed by Wanda. He yelped in pain.

Jack tilted his head. He had never seen anything like that. To his surprise, it started to float over to him. He took a step, but it came closer to him. As he cuffed his hands, it slowly started to lower itself down.

And once it was resting in his hands, it light died out.

"That was awesome," Quill pointed out.

"Holy Primus," Cliffjumper breathed.

"Excuse me," Raf asked. "Is something wrong?"

Gamora managed to speak before anyone else could reply. "Clearly it is something of greater value to them than what we know."

"You are correct, Gamora," Ratchet spoke. "That is the key of Vector Sigma, one of the most sacred artifacts of Cybertron. So sacred that only a Prime or one chosen can carry it."

"You're meaning to tell us that Jack's found worthy of holding it?" Wheelie asked as he and Brains came out from behind him. "How does that work?"

"Believe me, even I am not a specialist on the mystical, but the key has somewhat sentience of its own," Ratchet answered.

"So it's like Jarvis?" Brains asked.

Wanda and Pietro gave Victor an odd look.

"That bodiless voice you hear in the tower," Victor explained.

"N-no. Not exactly," Ratchet answered.

"How can something as tiny as this be such great as your willpower?" Drax asked. All non-Cybertronians looked at the Autobots.

"Let's just say that it's a good sign that Hank actually hid it here and not with him," Arcee said.

Drax's face lit up. "Ah, so this is the key he mentioned on the _Milano_."

"What?" Ratchet squawked.

"Why is it a good thing that it's here?" Warlock asked, ignoring the medic's shocked expression.

"Because that's the only way we can save Optimus," Brains explained. "The only problem is that with Megatronus on Earth with one of our own and Ultimus ripped from Optimus somehow, it'll make this really complex. They would be the only ones who'd know how the key works, but no one can track them down."

"That's not true," Cliffjumper spoke. "There is one other person who would likely know."

That got the transtech's attention. "You don't mean…?"

"Who else can we turn to?" Arcee asked with a shrug.

"So, how are you guys going to get that to this thing Vector Sigma being?" Phyla asked.

Every Autobot in the room stared at her.

"What?"

"I think there's a twist to this," Warlock whispered to her.

"It's...not that simple," Ratchet said. "The fact that Jack can hold the key means he's the only one who can activate it and him alone."

That was all the explanation Jack needed to hear to understand that now.

"June and Steve would flip if they found out," Raf said.

"Yeah, are you insane?" Victor spoke. "Why would the key do that? He's just a kid."

"I'm going to be seventeen next month," Jack pointed out.

"Jack, I'm sorry, but I don't care," Victor pointed out.

"I have to agree with the young one," Gamora spoke. "Why would it choose a child—sorry, a _teenager_ to carry the mission out?"

"Because the key must have found Jack somehow worthy of wielding it," Ratchet said. "And since it has Jack's bio-signature imprinted on it, he has the power to retrieve the information from Vector Sigma. But the key card is useless without the means of reaching Cybertron, which we at present do not possess."

"Um, hello?" Quill spread his arms out.

"I am Groot?"

"Yeah, Quill," Rocket sneered. "How are we gonna get there when our own ship isn't operational yet?"

"Or the fact that you won't do something stupid?" Raf asked suspiciously.

"What, even the kid—listen, kiddo, I'm _Star-Lord_." His companions rolled their eyes. "And I'll have you know that we also have the deadliest woman in the galaxy, Drax the Destroyer, a really clever raccoon and a nearly indestructible flora colossus."

"Besides," Cliffjumper said with a grin, "if anyone tries to stop us, we'll just wipe their afts to the floor."

"Why do you wish to use their afts to wipe the floor? Why not use a rag?" When Drax received odd looks on their end, his eyes lit up once more. "It's a metaphor, isn't it?"

"…Yeah," Pietro answered. "It means we'll beat them up."

"So, where is Vector Sigma on Cybertron?" Jack asked.

"Why?" Ratchet wondered.

"Well, we can't just sit around here and let Optimus lie down unconscious while we have two ancients who have no idea what's going on running around and probably causing havoc."

"Um, knowing about Ultimus, there's a chance that he's making sure they're kept under the radar," Cliffjumper acknowledged.

"Good." To Quill he said, "Once your ship is done, I need to get there."

"What?" Arcee gaped at him.

"I don't want to hear it," Jack said, cutting Ratchet off as he was about to speak. "I mean, I'll totally understand why you guys wouldn't want me to go in the first place, but Optimus needs us. And the chances that this Unicron is gonna rise and destroy everyone and everything will be high."

"I like him," Rocket said.

"Well, then I'll go with you," Victor volunteered, surprising the teen. "You're going to need someone to watch your back if you get into trouble."

"Then we're coming with," Wanda said. "And don't you dare try to start us," she told Victor.

"Wait, when did I decided to come?" Pietro wondered.

"Do you _want_ to go?"

"Hell yeah!"

"I can go," Raf said.

"No," Quill and Gamora said.

"Raf, I will forbid that to happen," Ratchet agreed.

"Ratch, what are the chances of him being stopped from going?" Cliffjumper asked.

"You're going to need a tech wiz for Cybertronian machinery, and I learned from the best." Ratchet realized that Raf had emphasized his last few words. Was the boy really _praising_ him?

"I might have an idea," Arcee spoke. "Once you guys get to our homeworld, notify us so we can bridge a few of us to there for extra armed forces."

Jack gazed up at her and smiled.

"I want to go with." Everyone turned and saw Sierra in the doorway, two batons in one hand and her bow in another.

"I don't know…" Jack still shuddered the day he met Clint.

"Jack, if you can't get Raf to stay, then there's no way you're making me stay." Sierra had stormed up to him as she said that. "And if you don't like it, you can try and stop me."

"Wow, you don't know when to back down, do you?" Jack asked as she smiled slyly.

"Geez, women are the devil," Quill grumbled.

"You said it," Warlock chuckled.

"What's a devil?" Drax asked. "They do not sound friendly."

"I am Groot."

"He's right," Rocket said. "What's gonna stop the bad guys from taking a shot at us?"

"Then you will need me and Warlock for backup," Phyla said. "In case something terrible should happen when aliens or any other creature tries to get us."

"And if I may add, I know some stops in along the way where we can salvage equipment," Warlock added.

"Good idea," Ratchet agreed. "You are going to need every available part."

"At any rate, we should be preparing in the morning, before the tower awakens," Gamora pointed out.

**And that's a wrap. Phew! Never thought I would get this done. Now that Jack's go the key, let's see what happens next.**


	11. Plan of Action

11\. Plan of Action

It took them three days to figure out how they were going to sneak Jack and his crew off of the planet, but they managed to pull it off. After they had explained the plan to the other Autobots and kids, Rialna was against it. Vince and Chloe promised to cover up for them, while Briana gave them an update. As long as Bulkhead was kept in his cool state, nothing was bound to go wrong.

But as he waited for his chosen companions to get ready, Jack was not. Blue eyes fell closed as he bowed his head.

"_Jack, are you okay?" Sierra looked at him. "You don't look alright."_

"_I'm nervous. I've never been far from home for a long time."_

"_I know what you mean. We were all far away from home once before. This was after we ran away to find you guys. That was the longest time I was gone from home."_

"_Yeah, but how about for who knows how long for a reason left unknown? What if we get killed?"_

_Sierra gave him a sad look. "Will we?"_

"_I did this because I want to help Optimus. That's why I'm leaving."_

"_And you assume the rest of us will stay?"_

"_I don't want anyone to worry about me, okay? I made them do that enough of that after I took the shot." He got up and wandered around his room aimlessly._

"_I want you to understand what I was talking about at Christmas, when I told you about my parents."_

"_You are not unloved."_

"_I never said I was. I just feel like they keep getting taken away from me, all of these missions and meetings and someone getting injured all of the time."_

"_So, you plan to disappear for good?"_

"_I want to keep moving."_

"_And your fears?"_

"_I want them dead."_

_There was silence. "Well, then let's kill our fears together, starting with this one."_

"Jack, let's go."

Lifting his head up, he picked up his helmet and placed his face mask on before strapping the helmet on. He marched into the courtyard where his friends were waiting for him.

"Where are the Guardians?" Jack asked.

"They're making finally preparations with the adults," Sierra said. Then she whispered to Jack, "Are you sure you want to go on with this?"

Jack smiled at her. "Positive." He noticed Raf's quaking form. "Nervous?"

"Excited. I can't believe we're going into space!"

"Well, soldier," Wheeljack started. "This is it—the moment of truth. The first humans to make the biggest step for all of mankind."

"I thought Quill already did that," Victor said.

"Well, um, we managed to get a look at their criminal records and—" Bulkhead was cut off by Wanda's outburst.

"Criminal records?"

"What? Some people can change," Bulkhead countered.

"Okay, let's go," Pietro said as he helped pushed them onto the ship.

Within minutes, the Guardians, along with Phyla and Warlock, boarded the ship as well. The feeling of thrusters soon caused Jack to vibrate as he felt the ground give push. He signaled that for Raf that they needed to sit down. The Autobots that had gathered watched the _Milano_ slowly ascend into the air without trouble, and then disappeared back into space.

"Bye! Good luck!" Wheelie cried out, waving his hand.

"They're on their own now," Brains said.

"I just hope they'll be able to jump back here," Rialna commented.

"Jump back?" Wheeljack asked. Everyone but Bulkhead gave him a look.

"Yes. As in return to Earth," Ratchet explained.

Both of the Wreckers were silent.

"What is going on here?" Arcee demanded.

"Uh, well, the trouble is, well, is that they're going to have to get help out there, unless they get lucky enough to get to Cybertron in one piece," he Bulkhead explained.

And that was when Rialna punched him. Hard.

* * *

Adam groaned as he came to. At first his vision looked blurry, the world smudge up. He had to blink and wait for his vision to clear up before he noticed the odd blue blob in front of. As his sight cleared up, he heard the figure chuckled.

"You still don't understand. I want to help you. I'm sorry I did that. I didn't know if I could trust you."

Now Adam was shocked. "What the what?"

"Dude, that is the most badass looking Decepticon ever!" Miko commented.

"Not helping," Adam growled. Then he realized what she had said. "Wait. What?"

"Yes, I am a Decepticon," the stranger admitted, catching the two by suprise. "But I've changed."

"You call _this_ change, bro?" Adam shouted, gesturing to him and Miko being tied up.

"Adam, can we keep him?" Miko pleaded.

"Nnnooooooooo, we cannot," Adam said. "How many times do I have to tell you—Hey, you!" He glared back at the Decepticon. "What's the big idea here?"

The Decepticon sighed as he turned away. "I apologized for all the things I have done. I can never go back to Cybertron. I'd be locked up the same way you do to prisoners before I can explain myself."

Miko frowned. She could just hear a smirk in those words. "Um, we were just…"

"But on this planet, your home, I can begin with fellow Cons who feel the same way. Is that so hard to ask for?"

Adam flared his nostrols. Miko looked between them, trying to figure out what would happen.

Across the gland, two pairs of eyes were watching.

"I do not trusht him," Nightcrawler said. "He's too cool. Kind of reminds of me someone."

"This is not good," Rogue snarled.

"What do we do now?" Nightcrawler asked.

"I have an idea. It's risky, but it's worth the shot."

* * *

Steve's original plan to let the time fly, to try and get Bucky to talk, to try and not let his fears get the best of him had pretty much started to crumble. June had told him time after time that Jack would recover quickly, and that they would't have to worry so much. He barely believed it, and had kept an eye out more closely for Megatron to make his next move.

Steve frowned. The Decepticons have gotten quiet. Usually day after day Ratchet would pick up their energy readings in an instant, but with little to no luck. And if that didn't worry him so much, along with the coming of Unicron, than what was it?

June entered the room, letting out a choked sob as she clung to the doorway and collapsed to the floor. Steve was already up and coming to her.

"June!" He knelt down and gathered her in his arms. "June, what's wrong?"

"Jack, he and some of the kids went missing."

The relief came first, then the shock as the words flowed through his mind. Jack went missing? Where could he have possiby have gone to now? He'd never expected Jack to wander off with with the burn in his back yet the revealation sent tiny punctures of sorrow into his mind.

Sorrow, and guilt.

Steve held her close, the sunlight beaming into the room suddenly seeming much less inviting. He stood up with her in his arms still, holding her close.

"Don't worry," he told her. "We'll find them. They couldn't have gone that far."

"Tony?" Pepper almost passed by the room, stopping once she saw them. "Where's Tony?"

* * *

"Ah, it feels good to finally stretch," Wanda said, extending her arms up.

Jack had to rub his eyes to get the distortion out of his sight. Turns out that taking off like gave him a rush that gave him a headache and made his sight blur. Hyper-speed was not his best friend.

"Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick," Pietro groaned as he stumbled around.

"Hyper-speed," Warlock said. "It does that a lot for even first timers."

"What's that?" Raf asked, pointing to a gadget Rocket was making.

"That's for if things get really hardcore. Or if you wanna blow up moons," Rocket said. "But there are some people on this stinkin' ship that aren't fun."

"Do you really want to declare war on the people that had the moon orbiting their planet to begin with?" Gamora asked.

"See? You're one of them," Rocket exclaimed. "Ah, great. Hey, kid. Can you go down below and get me a sulfur torch?"

"Okay," Raf said, unsure of what it was as he scrambled out of the room.

Pietro stood up. "Does anyone even _know_ where Cybertron is?"

"We're heading in the right direction, for now," Gamora answered.

"So, any idea what that key does?" Quill asked.

"All we know so far is that it activates this Vector Sigma device," Sierra said. She glanced over at Phyla. "Do you have any idea what that is?"

Phyla was in thought. "No. But from the likes of it, Unicron will drag this down. As for Megatronus and anyone who will pose a threat to all of us, it would be best said if we keep a low profile out here until we get to Cybertron."

"Not all at once," Wanda advised. "If there are other worlds full of life out there, we need to be on the defense if they prove to be primative and violent."

"Who knows?" Jack said as he pulled out the key. "But this thing is weird on its own accords."

"I think it's about spirituality," Sierra said. "Bio-signature. What did he mean by that?"

"It's a geomicrobiologic term here," Victor said as he entered the room. You know, the substance of a living creature providing scientific evidence of past or present life."

"Why would this key wish to gain such life from the past?" Drax questioned.

"DNA," Victor explained. "The structure of all living life. It's very complex. What's more important is that once the bio-signature is imprinted on the key, said person or creature of any race is capable of wielding the key. The rest of the story is raw material. If I had the power to, I could study Cybertronian tech a lot more easily."

"That being said and done, there really isn't much to do then until we get there," Quill said.

"When did humanity become experts in technology as advanced as this?" Gamora asked.

"Since the Autobots came online," Victor answered. "Am I the only one who knows how this works?"

"Then we would need you for an ambassador."

"What?"

"Yeah," Sierra agreed. "Think of it as a spaceman from another world who wants to be a represtation of another world."

"What are you, insane?" Victor asked. "I'm not a spaceman."

"Okay, look," Jack said. "Are you wearing a suit of sorts?"

Victor looked down at his suit and blushed. When the kids had left, they had taken their costumes with them for protection. Victor was wearing a maroon leather jacket with a vest and shirt beneath it. His trousers and boots had straps that buckled up. Goggles, glass tinted red for fashion, were on top of his head. "Yeah."

"Are you in a rocket?"

"Yeah."

"Are you in space?"

"Yeah."

"Are you David Bowie?"

Quill burst out laughing.

"I missed the joke," Drax said.

"…No."

"Then you must be a spaceman, because you're a man in space!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Jack had noticed that Raf was entering the room. Upon further inspection, he saw the boy's eyes were wide and his face was pale. He stood right next to Rocket, the tool in his hand.

"Oh, see Groot? This kid hasn't been on this ship for nearly two hours and he knows what I need."

"I am Groot!"

"I don't care if you came from a race that has never seen a tool before," Rocket said as his hand wrapped around the tool. "You just gotta figure it out within a second or two." He tried to take it from Raf, but the boy wouldn't let go. "Hey, kid. Will you let—uh, are you okay?"

Raf blinked, letting some color return to him. "Um, the strangest thing happened today."

* * *

Jack was completely terrified and clueless all at once. Raf had gone down to the lower deck to find the sulfer torch. It was easy to recognize it after spending some time with Rialna. However, as Raf was about to leave, he heard voices. It frightened him, but he decided to investigate. He grabbed hold of the drawer and pulled it open. Inside, to his horror, were three of the Avengers. And that got Sierra to become scared when she realized one of them was her mother.

"Here's where you lost us for a second," Victor said. "How did you find out about us leaving?"

"Uh, that's something I gotta thank Jarvis for," Tony said with a big grin.

"I sincerely don't like you," Jack commented.

"Your mom said the exact same thing when we met. Only _this_ time it's different because it's _funny_."

"Tony!" Natasha said.

"You kids mind telling us what you're doing?" Sam asked.

"No! You'll never take me alive, copper!" Raf shouted as he ducked behind Victor.

"I did not teach him that," Sierra said. Glaring at Natasha she added, "And I'm not sorry for taking off like that."

"How are we suppose to get this over with if you guys—" Rocket was cut off as the _Milano_ suffered a bump.

"What was that?" Sam asked.

Gamora checked the radar. "Oh-no," she whispered. "We're under attack!"

"Everyone under the age of twenty-five under the deck now!" Natasha shouted as the teens ran out of the room.

"If it's the Skrulls again, those shape-shifting fiends are aiming at the lower deck," Drax said.

"I'm sorry, did he say 'shape-shifting?'" Tony asked aloud.

"Eat this!" Rocket snarled as he activated the rear guns and started to shoot. Two ships were blasted and sent spiraling into space. But the victory was short-lived as an alarm rang out.

"That's not good," Quill said.

"I hate it when you say that," Phyla groaned.

"Quill, we're losing altitude," Gamora reported.

Quill pulled the controls up and tried to keep the ship stabilized. "This isn't good. We're gonna have to land."

"Land where?" Tony asked. "We're in the middle of nowhere."

"No, we are not," Phyla said. She pointed to what looked like a very large planet. "We should be able to land in a few minutes tops."

"Hang on!"

The occupants tried to hang on for dear life as they plummented towards the planet. The _Milano_ met the ground flat on its bottom and grazed on the surface. The impact forced them onto the floor, feeling the ship skid before it came to a halt.

"You call this _fine_ crash-landing?" Rocket growled.

"Oh, and you did such a fine job of it on Gigantion," Quill countered.

"I was trying to impress the girl," Rocket shot back.

Natasha and Sam rush down below and stopped at the steps.

"Is everyone alright?" Natasha asked.

Sierra sat up from where she was. "Super-duper."

Raf sat up as well, giggling. "Let's do that again."

Jack groaned, "I think I'm gonna be sick." He covered his mouth so he wouldn't barf.

"How are we going to get out of here?" they heard Warlock ask. "The hatch is blocked.

Victor pressed his hand to the floor and winced. The ship started to shudder, forcing everyone inside to shake. Sierra screeched and clung tightly to the chair she had set herself on.

"W-what's going on?" Raf whimpered.

Victor grit his teeth as the air around them felt light. At the last second he pulled away, collapsing onto the ground. Raf ran to him, but Wanda got to him first.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Victor coughed. "Just give me a moment."

The hatch opened up, even though everyone that didn't know Victor well enough didn't have a clue as to how it was standing up. As they piled out, a portal opened up.

"Oh, come on!" Quill exclaimed.

Once the groundbridge portal opened, a group of small figures jumped through. The portal closed as soon as the last one came through. Mouths and eyes were wide open.

"I am Groot?"

"That is awesome!" Pietro laughed.

**Fun fact of the day: Azari was originally going to be one of the main characters, but he got scrapped out—and Adam Wilson was born. So, basically Adam's involvement was unintentional; his design was a rip-off and he just popped out of nowhere. But either way, I still love my precious Addy.**


	12. Maximal Effort

12\. Maximal Effort

It was quite calm in the commons of the base, one of the last refuge to Autobots and neutrals alike. Located beneath Iacon, the capital of Cybertron, the occupants would feel somewhat safe from the raging war up above the surface. It wasn't like they were exhiled, they were just forced to go under. There, they would be safe from Megatron's reign of terror.

The current occupants of the base seemed to live a decent normal life. But that was set aside for their differed biology. They were quite small, the size of about any human. Anyone could see that they were a fusion between metal and living organic tissue. The younger members never quite understood as to why they were like that, but they barely pestered the older ones about it.

The silverback gorilla, upon expecting the new life they had been secretly growing, sighed sadly. "They're dying, along with all of our hopes."

"Don't be sad, Primal," the rhinocerous behind him said. "You're the reason these plants exist!"

"But if I cannot get these seeds to grow, how can I restore faith in the others? To ensure them that we will see the end of the war?" Primal questioned.

A human girl walked up to them, the skirt of her tunic caked from the mud. She was holding a datapad in her left hand, a look of concern crossed on her face. Primal excused the rhinocerous and let the girl approached him.

"What is it, Sari?"

The girl sighed. "This war is taking its toll on Oracleus…and all of us," she answered. "Our hope for a better future is slowly being stolen from the others. The pain of it is ripping us apart. Not to mention that Oracleus claimed to have seen Unicron in her visions."

That alerted the leader. "She what?"

"I know! It just sounds so bizarre."

"Sari, round up the others. We may have a problem on our hands soon."

"Um, yes sir." Sari saluted him and ran off to find the others. In less than a second, every single occupant had arrived to the main room.

"Unicron is still out there?" the cheetah gulped in worry. "This is bad. This is really bad."

"There's more," Sari stated, and she filled them in on what Oracleus had seen lately, telling them of a boy and a sacred relic.

"Well, that _is_ huge indeed," the moth said.

"Let's not jump to any conclusions," the condor said. "For all we know, it could be a trick of the Decepticons."

"Even if so, they could tip the scale to end this war," the rhinocerous pointed out.

"Or another mess of fried circuitry," the rat grumbled.

"And how do we know they won't side with Megatron or spread some kind of virus?" the bat inquired.

"A bearer of the Vector Sigma's key, siding with Megatron?" the spider scoffed.

"I would think that also be a bit illogical towards the wielder," the plant agreed.

"There's no time right now," Primal spoke. "We need to track down his whereabouts and get him here before Unicron awakens. Wherever he is."

Sari gasped, stars in her eyes. "Does that mean we get to use the warping pad?"

"That means we get to use the warping pad" the moth grumbled.

Sari squealed and dashed down the hall. The rhinocerous chuckled as they followed her. "Someone is excited to use it again."

"Yes," Primal agreed. "It is good to see some happiness in some of our family members again."

By the time they got to the command center, everyone was waiting. Sari was too busy typing in the code before grasping a lever and pushing it up. She looked at the team. "Good luck, y'all."

"You're not coming with?" the bat asked.

"Someone has to stand guard for the pad so we can come back," the spider said.

"See? She gets it," Sari said.

The pad activated and a beam shot up. Pimal looked to the beam as a few others jumped through it. He wanted to be sure they managed to make it through without any trouble. It had been so many years since they had used it. Once the last one went through, he followed. The scene changed to a deserted street. He didn't know who or what was roaming it until he heard the voices.

"I am Groot?"

"That is awesome!"

* * *

Jack wasn't sure how to make of it as he watched a group of animals come through. He had been waiting for maybe the Autobots, or his dad and the rest of the team. He didn't expect a welcoming committee from…a bunch of beasts.

"Uh," Sam said, "you're all seeing what I'm seeing, right?"

"No, Sam. We're all imaginating it here," Natasha said with sarcasm.

"Just tell me what the heck is this suppose to be," Sierra exclaimed.

"Well, ain't she just rude," the white and black moth remarked. He scuttled over and observed each of the team members. "Well, they don't seem to be made out of metal." He glared at Tony. "Except maybe this one."

Tony removed his mask. "What's that suppose to mean?"

The moth screamed and hid behind his team.

"You guys aren't going to fuse, are you?" Pietro asked, earning odd looks from everyone as Wanda and Victor tried hard not to laugh. "Because if you are, you're gonna have to notify us …You're not gonna fuse, are you?"

"Why would these strange beasts fuse?" Drax asked. "They look too magnificent to do such vile things."

"Um, am I the only one concerned of what side they could be on?" Sam spoke up.

"No," Jack and Natasha said at the same time.

"I just want to know how they're like that," Raf said.

"Right," the gorilla mumbled before turning to them. "What brings you here to our…um, planet?"

"It's…classified," Phyla answered, stepping closer to Jack.

The figure at the very back of the beasts stepped forward. Only then did Jack realize that the creature was a rhinocerous. "It would not be so classified, as one of you is carrying a sacred relic from this planet."

Gamora stared at him. "And you know this how?" Her tone was accusatory.

"One of us is…clairvoyant," the rhino stated. "She also knows that Unicron is awakening on a planet of strange origin."

Sierra looked at Jack with worry as he tensed in his place. Could this strange planet she was talking about be Earth?

"Now, wait just a minute," the condor said as he came forward to stand next to Primal. "I think we need to start at the beginning here."

"The beginning?" Raf asked, warily.

"He means introductions," Jack told him. _Just when I thought life couldn't get any weirder._

"Individually or all together with us?"

Jack's face contorted. It was a very good question, one he never got the chance to ask when they heard noises coming from the distance.

"The Decepticons are coming," the ape said. "We need to head back to our base to discuss this matter."

"Whoo-hoo!" Pietro cheered.

"I don't know," Jack spoke slowly. "I mean, we just met. How are we suppose to know you're not…you know?"

Gamora raised an eyebrow. Apparently this boy was smarter than she thought.

"Excuse us," the spider said as they pulled their commander back. To him she hissed, "Primal, you're too trusting. What if they're not the ones who have the key?"

"They'll be in a place where we can contain them. If we're correct, we may be able to help them."

"I don't know," the moth said, watching them warily.

"Noble, do you trust me in this?"

"Of course I do, boss. It's just that if the Decepticons find out and things start to get messy…Well, I'll just have to send you straight to the scrapyard then."

"And besides, what if they turn on us?" the cheetah questioned. "What they're not as friendly as we view them as?"

"If what Oracleus has seen is correct, there is no possibility of them having to betray us," the rhinocerous pointed out. "All we can do right now is to help them out for their sakes and the planet they originated from.

The team turned when they heard someone clearing their throat. "So, we'll let you help us, if you're willing to show us where you operate from," Tony said. He was the co-leader of the Avengers, after all, and this was their mission. Working with the planet natives or not, he didn't want the crew to start thinking they weren't in charge.

Primal raised a brow at Tony's words, but nodded. "We'll have the others to open up the warp pad."

Phyla's mouth dropped open. "You have a warp pad?"

Primal looked to her. "Is it a problem?"

"Heck no! It's the greatest invention in the galaxy! Fire it up and we'll be chatting away like cicadas."

Victor groaned and rubbed his face. "Please, just do it before she drives us all insane."

_I hope we don't end up regretting this,_ Jack thought to himself.

* * *

Miko poked Adam in the shoulder repeatedly, hoping he would say yes. So far, her comrade had said nothing. She actually wanted a new player who looked just as awesome as this guy. Why not? How many transformers would you see that didn't look so simian?

"Miko, for the last time we just can't," Adam sighed.

"But why?" Miko whined.

"Because even if it were up to us, we just couldn't," Adam explained. "We're just kids. We'd have to talk to our superiors about this_—"_

_"_I would love to meet your superiors, __and__ the rest of your squadron!" the so-called former Decepticon exclaimed. "How many of there are you? Where are you based at?"

"Um, we're just right at…" Adam stopped and frowned. "Wait a minute. How do we know we can trust you?"

The sound of leaves rustling forced them to look to the forest. The Decepticon turned around as a young woman with a white streak in her brown hair appeared out of the woods, strumbling out of the mess. She looked up and found the strangers staring at her. "Oh, hello," she greeted.

"Greetings, small one," the Decepticon returned the favor, forcing the teens to shudder. "I'm Steeljaw. And you are?"

"Oh, um, I'm Amy Poehler," the girl said.

Miko snickered.

"What's so funny?" Adam snarled.

"What happened to the tattoo on your shoulder?" the girl asked, pointing to Steeljaw's shoulder.

"I disablized it and its tracing mechanism," Steeljaw explained. "The Autobots cannot capture me before I can explain myself, wanting to live on this planet in peace. And I am sure you agree?"

Miko's ears picked up a new sound. She craned her neck and found a familiar blue teenage boy tiptoe towards them, carefully walking on long massive feet.

"Kurt!" Miko whispered.

"Do not worry," Kurt whispered back as he knelt down to undo their bindings. "We're getting you out of here."

"I wouldn't say that I disagree," Anne Marie stated. "But I don't think whatever it is you might have in mind would be the best answer. And to kidnap these two? Especially when one of them is…well, more reckless than the other."

"I resent that!" Miko barked.

Steeljaw's "ears" twitched. He turned around and saw all three of them at once.

"Oops."

"Yeah, oops indeed," Adam growled.

* * *

"Shouldn't they be there by now?" Arcee asked.

"In case you haven't noticed, it doesn't take them a day to get there and back," Roadbuster pointed out.

"Ugh, they should at least call so we don't worry," Cliffjumper groaned.

Ratchet was glaring daggers at the screen of the terminal, awaiting for the words to pop up. From what he could tell, it shouldn't be that long before they made the call. He was just anxious to get the groundbridge up and send the team through. It wouldn't be long before they returned with the key and bring Optimus back online before something bad happened.

To his amazement, the floor beneath him felt like it was vibrating. It quickly started to shake the room. He gasped and clutched onto the terminal. The other Autobots were confused.

"W-w-what was that?" Smokescreen asked.

"I-I'm not sure," Ratchet said. "I want to say one of those blasted experiments, but…" He couldn't bring himself to finish, afraid of what he would say.

"Probably an earthquake," Roadbuster theorized.

"In the middle of winter?" Cliffjumper asked, exasperated.

"Tell that to the San Francisco earthquake over a hundred years ago," Bulkhead deadpanned.

Arcee looked up at the screen of the terminal. "Ratch, you got an incoming call."

"What?" Ratchet looked up and saw the screen blinking. "Is it them?"

"It doesn't look like it," Cliffjumper observed, frowning.

"Are we going to put them through?" Bulkhead asked.

"It looks urgent," Ratchet said. He typed in the command to send the signal through. When the caller's face popped up, almost everyone fell backwards.

"Barricade?" Bulkhead said.

"What do you want?" Arcee demanded.

"_I want a great deal of things, Autobots. But for now I can contend myself with a temporary alliance against a foe that's bound to come soon. By now I am sure you have dealt with many catastrophic events yourself,_" Barricade muttered.

"Ha! Absurd," Ratchet retorted.

"No kidding," Wheeljack exclaimed. "Why should we align ourselves with you?"

"_Because Megatron's been tainted by Unicron's influence,_" Barricade explained. "_I have the right to believe that he is using him as a puppet for his evil doings._"

"Why should we believe you?" Bulkhead questioned.

"_You protected this planet from us since you revealed yourselves to the Avengers. Surely you just witness an earthquake by now, haven't you?_"

There was a slight wave of silence. Barricade smirked at this reaction. Seems like the Decepticons were not the only ones noticing the odd events happening.

"Do you know his whereabouts?" Ratchet asked.

"_Not yet,_" Barricade stated. "_But if I'm correct, he has sealed himself somewhere in the Earth's crust._"

"None of us have the use nor the inclination to form an alliance with Buckethead," Roadbuster spat.

"_Who said it was with Megatron?_"

The whole base was entirely quiet. Barricade had called for alliance against Megatron? That sounded so absurd! But even Roadbuster did not believe his former comrade would lie about this.

"Give us some time," the former hunter requested, earning glares from his comrades. "There's a lot we'll have to discuss, mate."

"__Make yourself scarce. Consider it, but don't take too long.__" And he hung up.

"He can shove it up Unicron's tailpipe," Wheeljack sneered, then turned to Ratchet. "So what's the plan, Doc?"

_"We might not have a choice," Rialna spoke. "If what Barricade says is true, we'll have to take every measure we can to prevent a doomsday."_

_"Brutal honestly from a Decepticon?"_ Arcee asked, slightly incredulous.

"Aligning with a lesser of two evils is _still_ aligning with evil!" Ratchet roared.

"Now, just a minute Doc," Roadbuster piped up. "No offense in defending him, but Barricade is hardly closer to evil than what you think. If you met any of the other hunters under Lockdown's command, then it be a good time to panic. From what I can tell here, I gotta agree with the gal."

"Even if we agree, Unicron's got himself hiding on the planet," Bulkhead said. "How are we supposed to get to him from here, drive?"

"Or what we do once we find him," Wheeljack pointed out.

"Yeah, how are we gonna stop him from doing more chaos?" Smokescreen asked.

"Unfortunately, we'll have to hold him off until not only we hear from the others," Ratchet said, "but when we have all of the collective wisdom the key will absorb."

* * *

"It's dark down here."

"That's the whole point, idiot!"

"How are going to get out of here?"

"Just stay close together. I don't want anyone getting lost. It's a maze in here."

"Oh, so we're trapped down here and wondering around like a bunch of lab rats? That's so brilliant."

"Really, can you be more of a jerk?"

"Yes."

Groan.

"We should go warn the other allies of this stuff. Lockdown could actually go after them next if we don't stay behind."

"That's true, he hates us all the most."

"See? Even he agrees with me."

"Do you have anything helpful to say?"

"No."

"Then shut it!"

"Hey, buddy? How far do these vents go to?"

"How should I know? We've never used them before in my time."

"If I may, I can try and scan to see just how far they lead to."

"Wait a minute_—_if you don't know how long these tunnels are, how do you know we can get lost so easily down here?"

"Not now."

"Hey, I found a door!"

"Seriously?"

"Nope."

"Oh, shut up why don't you!"

"Jeez, and I thought the adults were bad," Sierra whispered to Victor.

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or not, but I'll take that as a compliment," Tony said, overhearing her.

A few minutes passed when the team finally moved. As it turned out for all of them, back in the days, the Maximals were actually a group of Cybertronians who volunteered for experiments without knowing what the consequences were until it was too late. Jack was more surprised by how they knew of organic life than he believed.

Needless to say, introductions were made, even if some were still skeptical about it. The ape was the leader, Major Primal. The rhinocerous was Rhinox, the team's medical officer and historian. The moth was Noble and the plant-like creature was Botanica, both of them scientists. Then there was Rattrap, Cheetor, Blackarachnia, Silverbolt, and Sari.

Jack had separated himself, Sierra and Raf from the others as they gazed at the synthetic plants that were growing. "I'm not sure whether to find this incredible or strange," Sierra commented, observing each one.

"I'm not sure if I should still be terrified or not," Raf said. "You know, because three stowed themselves away on the _Milano_."

"You're still not over that?" Sierra questioned.

"Can you blame him?" Jack said.

Natasha had approached Botanica as she began to study the frequencies that was downloaded onto the databases. "What do you have so far?" she asked.

"So far, these natural disasters that are active around the world are not originating from below Earth's crust, as it usually is," Botanica explained.

"You're meaning to tell me they're coming from someplace else?" Sam piped. "Where from?"

Botanica looked upset. That usually meant that she didn't know.

"May I?" Gamora stepped forward, her hands hovering over the keyboard. Quickly she began to do her work, easily eliminating all possible locations, earning impressed looks. Jack watched as each dot disappeared until one remained. She zoomed in on the dot.

"Is that Mount Vesuvius?" Victor asked, coming up from behind.

"Cheetor, I need you, Sari and Nightscream to leave right now," Primal ordered. "Go check on her for me if you have to."

"But I_—_"

"Yes, yes," Rhionx agreed as he nudged them to go. "I'll need help to see if she requires assitance."

"I'll come help," Raf volunteered as he scrambled after them.

"So, what is that we're looking for?" Warlock asked.

"Calculating the activity going on around it. Tiny tremors rising and falling in a consistent pattern, almost like..." She suddenly stopped as she stared at the waves on screen "I knew it!"

Every guardian knew that it was bad when she starts in with that.

"If I convert these data points to audio files…" she started, messing with the console.

"What? What is it?" Jack demanded.

"Listen," Gamora ordered.

A loud thudding sound entered everyone's ears/audio receptors.

"Is that a heartbeat?" Wanda asked.

"I did not know volcanoes were living beings on Earth," Drax said.

"They're…not," Peter said.

"That's no heartbeat," Blackarachnia spoke. "That's a Cybertronian heartbeat."

"How is that possible?" Natasha breathed. "A heart pumps blood, there's nothing inside the volcano to possess one except…"

"Unicron," Rocket finished in disbelief.

"Hold on," Tony spoke. "You mean something's living down there, inside Vesuvius?"

"Or else he's been locked up inside of it," Pietro smirked.

"That would explain why Pompeii was also buried," Wanda commented.

"If he breaks free from that, do you have any idea what damage he could cause?" Sam spoke.

"And how are we suppose to stop him from breaking free?" Jack questioned.

Primal sighed. "That was not foretold."

"Okay well, what happens now when Unicron wakes up from his billion year nap?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, does he stretch and kapow! Earth poofs to dust?" Sierra asked, mimicking the explosion.

Everyone went silent.

"You have no idea, do you?" Rocket asked.

"Either way," Primal said, "we must ensure that this force of nature never fully awakens. The fate of your planet depends on it."

**Well, now I think I know where I'm going with this. Next chapter, Decepticons and Autobots unite, Miko and Adam get rescued, and a new antagonist comes into play. See y'all soon.**


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